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.”