HPD K9 to Receive New Body Armor

HILLSBORO, OR – A Hillsboro Police Department K9 will soon receive body armor thanks to a Massachusetts nonprofit and a family in Sherwood.

Three-year-old HPD K9 Timber has been slated to receive as a gift a bullet and stab protective vest embroidered with the words “Protection in memory of Sebastian and Lilo” within eight to 10 weeks.

The vest is being made by nonprofit Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., and is sponsored by Jason and Brenda Bailey of Sherwood. HPD spokesman Lt. Henry Reimann said the department is unclear as to who are Sebastian and Lilo.

Timber, a German Shepherd-Belgian Malinois mix from Israel, has been with the HPD for the past year, during which he and his partner, Officer Mike Lee, have logged 18 captures. And because of the possible danger associated with those captures, K9 protection is equally as important to the department as protection for its human officers.

“If a dog is sent on a find and the person is known to be armed, just like us the K9s need to be protected as well,” Reimann said, adding that the K9s don’t wear the vests all the time.

HPD K9 units have patrolled Hillsboro’s streets since the program’s inception in 1978. In that time, the department has deployed 44 K9s with 37 different human police partners, or “Dogmasters.”

Located in East Taunton, Mass., Vested Interest in K9s provides bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs in law enforcement and other related agencies across the nation, supplying more than 2,400 protective vests through private and corporate donations in 50 states since 2009. The vests are made to order by Armor Express in Central Lake, Mich.

Photo Courtesy: Hillsboro Police Department