Wilmington K-9 unit gets new dogs, vest
A Bear woman donated enough money to cover the cost of a vest; four more dogs will join the unit
- The department has 12 dogs — 11 dual-purpose dogs and 1 bomb-detection dog.
- The K-9 officers live with their handlers and typically retire after nine years on the force.
- The department now has two bullet-proof vests to rotate among the dogs.
As the Wilmington Police Department adds four officers to its K-9 unit, a Bear woman is adding protection for the furry unit one bulletproof vest at a time.
Valerie DeLisle began raising money to support local police department K-9 officers after reading about a dog that was shot in the line of duty. Further research indicated that about 10 dogs die on the job each year, DeLisle said, and being a huge dog lover, she couldn't stand to think about a Delaware dog losing its life that way.
"It seems like not enough dogs have vests," DeLisle said Monday at the Wilmington Police Department's K-9 training facilities along New Castle Avenue in Wilmington.
Each vest costs about $900, said Master Sgt. Christopher Vitale, supervisor of the K-9 unit, which makes outfitting each dog with a vest very difficult under tight budget constraints. The dogs don't wear the vests at all times though, which makes having just one or two for the department to share acceptable for the time being. Wilmington, with the addition of four dogs currently in the academy, will round out its numbers at 12 K-9 officers when all training is completed.
DeLisle, however, wants every dog to have its own vest across the state and beyond, she said. She's already two-thirds of the way to funding a second vest, she added.
"These dogs need protection just like our police," she said. "And I'm a huge lover. I really support the work of our police and our K-9 police."
Vitale and other K-9 unit officers are grateful for the backing. The dogs and their handlers undergo six months of intensive training, as well as a lifetime of shared experiences and policing together.
Greta, the department's only female K-9 officer, donned the new 3-pound vest Monday and ran around the training obstacle course with her new accessory. Master Cpl. Jake Dolinger works as Greta's partner and played games with her to show off her skills.
It takes the dogs some time to get used to the vest, but it's important for when situations become tense in the city and beyond.
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"We don't get offers like this all the time," Vitale said to DeLisle before handing her a certificate of appreciation from the department. "This really humanizes what we do. Animals are just a great link (to the community)."
The department recently accepted four new dogs into its academy. All are around 1 year old and come from a breeder in North Carolina who brings the dogs over from Eastern Europe. The dogs are trained to respond to languages including Czech, French and Dutch. The dogs go home with their handlers at the end of the day and live with families after retiring from the department.
Wilmington police officers Jose Cintron, John Truluck, Hailey Cockerham and Dan Humphrey will train Kai, Manny, Baylis and Axel, respectively.
Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn.