NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) - Every police K-9 in Norfolk will now have a bulletproof vest, thanks to a generous gift.
On Wednesday, the Breeden Company donated $20,000 to the Norfolk Police Foundation. The money will go toward purchasing protective vests for approximately 19 police dogs.
The donation relieves the Norfolk Police Department of a major cost. The vests can be expensive, with prices ranging anywhere between $1,000 to $2,300 apiece. Multiply that by every K-9 in Norfolk, and it the price quickly adds up. The Norfolk Police Foundation said without help from the community, this wouldn’t be possible.
The man behind the generous donation is Ramon Breeden Jr.
“It gives us a great deal of pleasure to present this to the police department,” said Breeden.
A spokesperson for his company said it wants to align itself with a cause that helps animals. This donation will do just that. Up until this point, K-9’s that have not been deployed were not protected by the vests. Breeden said police dogs deserve the protection.
“They give their life to you and they've got to have some protection,” said Breeden. “It's a little bit we can do.”
Todd Williams, the Assistant Chief of Police in Norfolk said the donation goes beyond helping protect the K-9’s. They also give officers peace of mind.
"The officers that go out with their K-9, that's their partner. That's their family member,” said Williams.
“Anything that we can do to support than K-9's safety, we want to do. We want to give them every tool they can have."
Edward Wolcott, the Chairman of the Norfolk Police Foundation said they’re beyond grateful for the donation.
"It's wonderful to have people like that in the community. We have a great community of people like Mr. Breeden that love to give back,” said Wolcott.
“Thank goodness for them.”
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