Florence has four police dogs, or K9Ss. One of them, a German shepherd named Ajax, recently received a protective vest thanks to a donation from Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that provides bullet- and stab-resistant vests to law enforcement agencies with K9 units nationwide.
Ajax is 5 years old. Originally from Slovakia, he was trained by Shallow Creek Kennels in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. The Florence police department usually gets its K9s when they are about a year and a half to 2 years old.
Ajax’s handler is Officer Blake Burkhardt. He traveled to Shallow Creek Kennels and spent 6 weeks there getting to know Ajax and training with the dog.
“From there, the dogs are ours, they come home with us, they live with us, they’re part of our family,” Burkhardt told LINK nky. “Then, really, it’s just non-stop training. It’s a pretty demanding job, but really, the sky’s the limit of what you can do with these dogs. They’re super smart and they’re impressive.”
K9s go through rigorous police work training that gets them ready to do their jobs and to protect themselves and their handlers.
“He’s trained in narcotics, patrol work, which is like your apprehension, evidence searching, tracking, and then building searches and things of that nature as well,” Burkhardt told LINK nky
Though K9s are taught to apprehend people running from officers, he hasn’t nabbed any bad guys or gals — yet: “Most people, once they hear that dog barking, they don’t want to play anymore,” said Burkhardt.
Chasing suspects and running down drug and weapons leads is dangerous work. That’s where Vested Interest comes in.
“The dangers are being stabbed or being shot,” said Sandy Marcal, Vested Interest founder and president. “The vests that we provide have NIJ [National Institute of Justice] certified ballistic panels, which is the same as in a human vest. That’s something that we take very seriously, that they have the certified ballistic panels. So that’s like an insurance policy that the vest will stand up to its threat level.”
Though Burkhardt describes Ajax as part of his family, he also recognizes that the dog is an important law enforcement tool.
“If we’ve got a situation where it’s not going to be safe to send an officer in there right away, a lot of times the dogs will be used as a locating tool to either tell us where they’re hiding at or what’s going on to prevent an officer from getting injured,” Burkhardt said.
The vest Ajax received is one of more than 6,200 that Vested Interest has donated. The vests cost as much as $1,081. Law enforcement agencies can buy them outright or apply for a grant to cover the cost.
“If they have completed all the paperwork, then we would award the dog a vest,” said Marcal. “We don’t have a waiting list here, and we’ve never had a waiting list in 16 years.”
And the vests work.
“We’re aware of a number of incidents where the dog’s life has been saved by the vest,” Marcal said. “One of the most notable ones was a dog named K9 Gabo in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He was shot five times wearing our vest and was saved and went back to work full duty two months later.”
Burkhardt welcomes the protection for Ajax. “I definitely feel fortunate to have it to help protect my dog when he is put in situations where he could be harmed,” he said.
Getting Ajax accustomed to the new vest is training for both dog and handler. It’s a little heavier and bulkier than the harness Ajax wears in tracking and apprehension work.
That’s due to the ballistic panels. “I’ve been training in it just to get him used to it. I’d rather get him used to it in training than get him used to it on the street,” Burkhardt said.
If you see Ajax and Officer Burkhardt out on patrol, don’t be afraid to say hello. “If you see us, come holler at us,” Burkhardt said. “Our dogs are all super nice. They’re super personal. They hang out with me and my kids at home. They’re awesome.”