McLean County Emergency Management Chief Eric Hodges has announced the appointment of Dr. Joan Brehm as the Acting Sergeant of the newly formed K-9 Operations Team within the McLean County Emergency Management Agency's Search and Rescue Division. Acting Sergeant Brehm has most recently served as the President of the non-profit Illinois Search Dogs (ISD) association. In addition to her work with ISD, Brehm has served on the McLean County EMA's Ground Search and Rescue Team as a search team member since 2009.

Acting Sergeant Brehm will be responsible for the K-9 Operations Team including its training, budgeting, field-level deployments for missions, and recruitment. She will report organizationally to Acting Lieutenant Shaw who commands the Search and Rescue Division. Her promotion to the rank of Sergeant will occur at a later date. Her appointment as the Acting Sergeant of the K-9 Operations Team is effective immediately.