Missouri police debut 'alpaca unit' on April Fools' Day

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. (KRCG) — The St. Charles County Police Department introduced its new unit in social media posts over the weekend.

"In St. Charles County, we’re always looking for new and exciting ways to strengthen our department to better serve our community,” an officer said in a Facebook video.

The police department already has canine, motorcycle and SWAT units, but they added one more: one even fluffier, the Alpaca Unit.

All of this was a part of an April Fool’s Day prank from the police department in partnership with the Alpacas of Troy, a family-run farm dedicated in-part to education about the South American camelid.

As part of the joke, police praised the alpacas as easy to train and ideally suited to help them patrol their largely rural area: plus the surprise factor will aid in effectiveness.