AURORA | One of Aurora’s canine officers will have a little extra protection while on the job in a few weeks.
Aurora police announced Tuesday morning, July 19, that K9 officer Deuce is receiving a bullet and stab protective vest from Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., a nonprofit based out of Massachusetts that provides armor to law enforcement dogs.
The donation comes along with an embroidered memorial to Officer Doug Byrne, who was killed in 2007 in a crash while responding to a medical emergency.
Erick Bumpass, a building inspector and plans examiner with the City of Aurora for the past 10 years, helped spur the donation with a GoFundMe fundraiser he started last year.
“We live in a time when, on a daily basis, our men and women in blue and their canine partners are under a constant threat both foreign and domestic,” Bumpass wrote regarding the campaign. “I do not want to think of a society without them.”
Since September 2015, the campaign raised about $555 of the $1,075 goal through GoFundMe.
Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., was formed in 2009 to help provide body armor K9 officers across the country. To date, they have given more than 1,900 protective vests — which weigh about four to five pounds and cost between $1,795 to $2,234 — to law enforcement agencies in 49 states.
The vest for Deuce is expected to be delivered in eight to 10 weeks, according to Aurora police spokesman Sgt. Chris Amsler.