The department put out a call asking for residents who would be willing to receive basic training on spotting and reporting suspicious activity.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — The Bellevue Police Department has implemented a new community outreach program that relies on the assistance of "man's best friend."

The "Paws on Patrol" program gives police an additional set of eyes in neighborhoods, allowing community members already walking their dogs to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.

“The more people we have in the community looking for criminal activity, the less likely we are to have crime," said Lt. Ben Jones of the Bellevue Police Department.

“It truly reminds me that it’s up to us as a community to invest in our community and to make sure that it’s safer,” said Jenny Kays, one of the program’s newest volunteers.

Kays will walk around Bellevue parks with her lab, Maggie, as a part of the program.

“A lot of people have dogs a lot of people are walking in their neighborhoods. This is a way for us to educate and empower those people to be on the lookout for potential criminality or suspicious things,” Jones said.

Jones said many citizens are reluctant to call 911 since they believe that what they're seeing isn't a big enough deal to bother police with.

The program, which launched this week, had over 200 participants.