Latest body armor donation makes 95% of Colorado Springs Police K9s protected
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Another one of the Colorado Springs Police Department's K9s received a donation of live-saving body armor, marking about 95% of the department's fleet of K9s protected.
Luna Pixel is one of three electronic detection dogs in Colorado. She's five years old and has been with CSPD for three years. Now, she'll be receiving her 4-5 bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a donation from the non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s.
Her job is to search for electronics. CSPD said there is a chemical component in all electronics that keeps them from heating up. Luna has been trained to sniff this out and find it.
Her primary function is finding child-exploited material. Her handler works in the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.
She's also worked in domestic violence and financial crimes because she can smell the SD card in credit cards.
"We use her a lot on search warrants to find where people are keeping their stashes and collections," Internet Crimes Against Children Detective Emilie Barnett explained. "She tends to ignore the plain sight items. So if there's just a phone on the counter she'll ignore it. She knows her job is to look for something that's hidden. Whether that's a camera in a fire alarm or outlet, that's her job."
These dogs, like their officer handlers, put their lives in danger too on the job.
"They're another officer," Barnett said. "They have a job just like us, they wanna go home just like us. Just because they're four-legged and can't talk doesn't mean they can't have that same ability."
All police and detectives wear body armor on the job. CSPD's goal is to make sure all their K9s have body armor in the next two years. The importance of this is especially prominent after the on-duty death of K9 Jinx in April.
Luna Pixel will receive her vest in about six to eight weeks. It's custom fitted, like one a human officer would wear. It covers her chest, stomach, vital organs, and areas most likely to be struck by an attacker.
