Video: K9s steal the show at police expo

Renee Shelly lives in Stafford and is married to a Prince William County Police officer.

She knows her husband’s job working on immigration cases is a tough one, but community celebrations like the one Saturday in Woodbridge honoring the department’s 40^th anniversary makes her entire family feel appreciated, she said.

“There is a lot of good support from the community out here and within this organization. Police officers take care of their own too, so we are glad to know we all have the support we need,” said Shelley.

In addition to taking care of their own, Prince William police have been taking care of the community since they began patrolling the streets on July 1, 1970.

This weekend, hundreds turned out for a birthday celebration where the community came to learn about the SWAT team, scuba team, forensics, crash investigations, and mounted, marine and K9 patrols.

The free event was so large it attracted visitors from other states.

“You don’t realize how many people protect you. There’s so much involved in all of the different areas of police work. My nephew has been waiting days to come see this,” said Liz Aleo from New Jersey.

And while it was police officers who were all smiles and shaking hands with visitors, the robot that does the job these officers can’t was also on hand.

Jason Kohl, a 14-year veteran with the department, spent the afternoon operating the remote control robot used by the SWAT team. It along with the artillery they use drew many visitors to their table.

“The turnout has been really nice. The SWAT team does a lot of demos, we do a lot of shows to show people the equipment that we have… certainly it nice opportunity to meet the public and show them what we do,” said Kohl.