Manchester K-9 Storm Receives Body Armor, Gets To Work

One of Manchester Township’s two K-9 officers has received body armor that was donated to the township.

The body armor for K-9 Storm, whose handler is Patrolman Marc Micciulla, arrived Oct. 7, and was in place the next day, when the pair were called in to assist with tracking a suspect who reportedly had a knife.

“The generous donation of the vest by the Vested Interest in K9’s organization will help to ensure K-9 Storm’s safety as he serves and protects the residents, visitors and police officers of Manchester Township,” Manchester Township Police Chief Lisa Parker said.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a nonprofit organization from Massachusetts that outfit K-9 officers with the stab- and bullet-portective vests, in memory of a Pittsburgh police dog that was killed in the line of duty.

The arrival of the vest could not have come at a better time, police said. The following day Micciulla and K-9 Storm were asked to assist Lakehurst with tracking a person who reportedly had a knife. The person had been threatening to harm themselves and ran out of their home, Lakehurst Chief Eric Higgins said. Micciulla and Storm tracked the person, who was taken into custody. Higgins said the person was never a threat to the community and police later found the person had left the knife in the home when the person fled.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a 501c(3) charity established in 2009 to assist law enforcement agencies with this potentially lifesaving body armor for their four-legged K-9 officers. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provided more than 1,590 protective vests, All vests are custom made in the USA by Armor Express in Central Lake, MI.

The program is open to dogs actively employed in the U.S. with law enforcement or related agencies who are certified and at least 19 months of age. New K-9 graduates, as well as K-9s with expired vests, are eligible to participate. The suggested donation to provide one protective vest for a law enforcement K-9 is $1,050. Each vest has a value between $1,795 – $2,234 and a five-year warranty. There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K-9s throughout the United States.