Why police dog wasn’t wearing his bulletproof vest

Although some are questioning why Rooster, the police dog killed in the line of duty on Saturday, wasn’t wearing a bulletproof vest, several agencies say it’s common practice to leave such decisions to a dog’s handler.

Linda Spines called The Eagle to ask why Rooster wasn’t wearing his bulletproof vest Saturday when his handler ordered him to stop a suspect from returning inside a house.

Spines, who said she has great respect for police Chief Gordon Ramsay and the Wichita Police Department, sent Ramsay a letter on Tuesday asking the same question about Rooster, a Belgian Malinois.

“I’m sure the handler and everyone else feels horrible,” Spines said. “It’s a very sad situation, and the dog would probably have been shot at, but at least he would have had a chance.”

Several people in Facebook comments on a Wichita Eagle article about Rooster’s death have asked why the dog was sent in without a vest when an officer would have worn one.

Other commenters defended the Wichita Police Department, saying a vest is too hot for a dog to wear all the time.

“This incident unfolded so rapidly there just wasn’t an opportunity for the officer to put the vest on the dog,” Ramsay said Monday during a news briefing to discuss the shooting.

Ramsay said the dog’s handler did not know the suspect was armed at the time. Rooster, who served with the department for five years, died when he was shot in the shoulder and neck.

Ramsay said Monday that it wasn’t immediately clear whether having a vest on would have saved Rooster’s life.

The suspect, Kevin C. Perry, 25, was killed by police officers after officers said he fired at them. Officers were responding to a domestic violence report at the Lamplighter Mobile Home Park in south Wichita.

At the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, whether a dog wears a vest is left up to the handler, according to Lt. Lin Dehning.

The same is true at the Kansas City Police Department in Missouri, which has 12 dogs, all of which have ballistics vests.

“No two scenarios are alike,” said Sgt. Kari Thompson of the Kansas City Police. “Once the scenario has been assessed and threat assessed, the handler will make that decision.”

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism also has dogs used in tracking – anything from trying to locate a missing child or elderly person with dementia to helping to track an armed and dangerous felon.

Jason Sawyers, K-9 coordinator with the department, said its two bulletproof canine vests are rarely used, partially due to the heat stress the vests put on a dog.

“It’s brutal,” Sawyers said. “Even when it’s 60 degrees, it’s going to make a huge difference, and we don’t know if we’re going on a 100-yard trek or a 2-mile trek.

“Don’t get me wrong: I absolutely see a need for (bulletproof vests), but there are other things to consider for the safety of the dog.”

In 2015, Rooster modeled a $1,035 ballistics vest as part of the Four-Legged Project to outfit dogs with vests, two of which were provided that day by the Wichita Wagonmasters, a local charitable group.

Bill Ramsey, a member of the Wagonmasters, said many people are wondering where Rooster’s vest was but said the vest might not have saved him.

“I think the first thing that went through most of our heads was ‘Where was his vest?’ ” he said. “But we know how these handlers are, and we know how they care for their dogs.”

Brad Remmich, another Wagonmaster, said he participated in raising money for the vests and has continued fundraising for additional vests. Now, he’s sad to hear about the loss of the dog he saw modeling a ballistics vest in 2015.

“It’s definitely a sad thing that he didn’t have it on,” Remmich said. “I do know the training they go through and the officers, how they respond and everything. I know they absolutely would have had it on if they could have.”

David “Lou” Ferland, executive director of the U.S. Police Canine Association, agreed that most agencies leave it up to the handler to decide when a dog should wear a vest. When a dog goes into a situation without a vest, he said, it’s usually because the handler doesn’t have time to put it on.

“The dogs don’t wear the vests all the time, because they overheat in them, even in the wintertime,” said Ferland, whose group does training and certification for police dogs. “The handler has to have time in order to put the vest on the dog.

“In some calls, that time is just not rendered to the handler, and they deploy the dog for all the best reasons because they want to save lives, and unfortunately, the dog becomes the victim of that quick call.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2017 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Why police dog wasn’t wearing his bulletproof vest."