Parakeet wearing police vest to help NC officers catch ‘bad seeds’ and connect with community

Five-O attends Willow Spring High School (Fuquay-Varina Police Department)

FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. (WNCN) – A parakeet with his own little police vest has joined the Fuquay-Varina Police Department.

On Friday, township officials introduced “Five-O,” a green-cheeked parakeet.

On his journey to get to know the people he serves and break into the new Avian Unit, police say Five-O visited Willow Spring High School to interact and socialize with students.

School Resource Officer Osborne helped students hold Five-O and showed them his small police vest.

According to police, Five-O also visited Cpl. Doxie in the police break room where he enjoyed chewing on her shirt and stroking her neck.

“He even got into her hair a little,” they said. “We think he may have been trying to build a nest!”

Police said everyone who got to see and hold Five-O left with a smile on their face.

“Perhaps we can use Five-O to do the tracking for us and help us locate all the ‘bad seeds’ living in Fuquay-Varina,” police said. “I bet he’d get a bird’s-eye view of a judge testifying if he had to.”