Newport police dogs to be fully vested
Deepa Bharath
NEWPORT BEACH -- The city’s three police dogs will each receive a
ballistic vest Wednesday.
The protective vests, which cost $475 apiece, will come from
Vest-A-Dog, a nonprofit organization. They are being purchased with
donations from Peter and Claire O’Brien of Corona del Mar and Patti and
Paul Mickelsen and their grandson, Connor Mickelsen, of Laguna Beach.
Officials said the dog vests only recently have been introduced to law
enforcement and will provide police dogs with added protection during
high-risk searches.
The vests, made from Kevlar, a bulletproof material manufactured by
DuPont, are said to stop most bullets used today. However, no Newport
Beach police dogs have been shot in the line of duty so far, officials
said.
The vests will provide solid protection for the dogs, said Kathy Ryan
of International Armor, the company that designed the vests six years
ago.
“These dogs are most often placed in risky situations without any kind
of protection,” she said. “Now the police officers will at least have an
option to grab a vest and put it on the dogs, and not feel helpless about
it.”
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