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Naperville
Friday, March 29, 2024

Naperville Police Department’s K9 Rocco is awarded protective vest

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Above / Naperville Police Department is located in the Public Safety Campus, 1380 Aurora Ave., where the annual Public Safety Open House will be held from 10AM-2PM Sat., Oct. 14, 2017. Come learn how K9s assist law enforcement.


Rocco

Naperville Police Department’s K9 Rocco will receive a bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from nonprofit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. K9 Rocco’s vest is provided by an anonymous sponsor. Delivery is expected within eight to 10 weeks.

K9 Rocco is a 2-year-old Dutch Shepard that joined the Naperville Police Department family earlier this year.  Rocco is trained as a Dual-Purpose Narcotics Patrol Canine specializing in narcotics detection, tracking, evidence and article searches, apprehensions and handler protection.

Rocco’s handler is Officer Pete Konow, a three-year veteran of the department. The pair have been working together since April.

$950 donation funds gift from Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a 501c (3) charity located in East Taunton, MA whose mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies throughout the United States. The non-profit was established in 2009 to assist law enforcement agencies with this potentially lifesaving body armor for their four-legged K9 officers. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provided over 2,600 protective vests, in 50 states, through private and corporate donations, at a cost of over 2.1 million dollars.

The program is open to dogs actively employed in the U.S. with law enforcement or related agencies who are certified and at least 20 months of age. New K9 graduates, as well as K9s with expired vests, are eligible to participate.

The donation to provide one protective vest for a law enforcement K9 is $950.00. Each vest has a value between $1,744 – $2,283 and a five-year warranty, and an average weight of 4-5 lbs. There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States.

For more information or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please call (508) 824-6978. Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provides information, lists events, and accepts tax-deductible donations of any denomination at www.vik9s.org or mailed to P.O. Box 9 East Taunton, MA 02718.

Story and photo submitted by Commander Louis Cammiso, Office of Professional Standards, Public Information Officer, for the Naperville Police Department.


Two members of Naperville’s public service K9 team.

Editor’s Note / The public is welcome to learn how K9s work with law enforcement, firefighers and other first responders to solve all sorts of crimes during the annual Naperville Public Safety Open House from 10AM to 2PM Sat., Oct. 14.

The popular family event for all ages features exhibits, giveaways, live demonstrations, reenactments and visits from McGruff the Crime Dog and Sparky the Fire Dog.

What’s more, many police officers, firefighters and public safety volunteers will be on hand to help spread the word that “Keeping the community safe is everybody’s responsibility.”

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PN Editor
PN Editor
An editor is someone who prepares content for publishing. It entered English, the American Language, via French. Its modern sense for newspapers has been around since about 1800.

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