K9 'Blue' joins UCF's downtown safety team

ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - The newest member of the University of Central Florida's Police Department has four legs and answers to the name 'Blue.'

Blue is a two-year-old yellow Labrador. She'll be helping out UCF's safety team in downtown Orlando, specializing in explosives detection, conducting sweeps of buildings and assisting partner agencies with detection searches, according to a press release.

UCF's police department has four other explosive detection dogs.

The crime-fighting canine was donated to UCFPD by Diversity K9. She will be working with Ofc. Jerad Engel, a U.S. Air Force veteran who joined the police department in 2015. He currently serves in the Air National Guard. 

Ofc. Engel and Blue will begin working at the new UCF Downtown campus this summer. The two have been training together since last fall. 

Students at the downtown campus will find the duo patrolling the area, helping to protect and serve and keep UCF and Valencia College students and staff safe.