New CSUMB police officer gaining ‘paw-pularity’

By Mark Muckenfuss

“He’s so cute!”

A small group of women students had descended upon perhaps the most popular new male on campus this fall, ooing and ahhing, shaking hands and cuddling with Mochi the police dog.

Among the small band of friends was Catilyn Casazza, a first-year psychology major from San Mateo. She ended up sitting on the ground with the blonde Labrador/golden retriever mix stretched across her legs. 

“You are a lapdog,” she exclaimed while petting him. 

Mochi is much more than that. The newest addition to the Cal State Monterey Bay Police Department, he is a service and facility dog whose job is to support students, especially those undergoing emotional trauma.

“Being around a dog lowers stress hormones,” said Mochi’s handler, Detective Joseph “Joey” Cox, a seven-year veteran of the campus police department. “He’s really helped with having people trust the police more. But what I want him for most is interviews.”

Mochi is most helpful in cases where there is a trauma victim, Cox said. 

“With this age group, they have a lot of intense emotions. Having Mochi there gets them comfortable.”

Mochi can even go to court and sit beside a witness during testimony, providing a calming influence.

For most students, however, he provides an opportunity for affection.

“I think it’s amazing,” said Casazza. “I’ve seen him around before, but I’ve been waiting to fully engage with a puppy.”

At 2½ years old, Mochi isn’t quite a puppy any longer. But he still has cuteness to spare. As Cox made his rounds at the Otter Student Union, Mochi was like a magnet, drawing in students and staff members every few minutes. 

Kimberly Alejandre, an administrative support coordinator for the Social Science and Global Studies department, was waiting for her coffee order at Starbucks when she found something better than a caffeine fix. 

“It makes it so much better,” she said, after petting Mochi. “This will be the highlight of my day.”

Diego Ortiz, a third-year kinesiology major from Seaside, said he loves dogs and thinks Mochi is a welcome presence on campus.

“I think he will add a really good vibe,” Ortiz said. “He’s very calm. He can help a lot of people who might have anxiety.”

Cox first met and started working with Mochi in late April. The dog comes from Canine Companions, a national training organization with a center in Oceanside. Mochi knows approximately 45 commands, such as shaking hands, speaking on command and opening automatic doors, including the ones at the entrance to the OSU. 

Cox and Mochi not only spend the day together, but also the off-duty hours, when Mochi gets to let loose and be a bit “goofy,” playing with Cox’s 2-year-old son and his 11-year-old English bulldog Dali. 

“I like to say I live with Mochi,” Cox said, rather than the other way around. “He’s the star of my life. He goes with me everywhere. He has his own car, the Mochi Mobile. When we go by, people will yell, ‘Mochi! Is he in there?’ He’s a celebrity.”

And he has helped make Cox’s job easier.

“It makes me realize how important being a human is,” he said. “No one likes to talk to the police. But he breaks down those walls.”

September is National Service Dog Month and Cox said it’s important to note that the use of dogs such as Mochi in police work is “ticking up big time.”

There is talk on the CSUMB campus to combine canine forces with Blue, a popular therapy dog that frequents the library, and dogs owned by other members of the campus family. 

“We’re trying to do a pup club,” Cox said. “There’s going to be a dog on every corner, it seems.”

That works for Amanda Humphrey, a fourth-year environmental science major from Santa Rosa. She came away from her encounter with Mochi feeling uplifted.

“I think it provides good emotional support,” Humphrey said. “I’m definitely less stressed now.”