Hangin With Heroes 2022

Hodgenville Police Department’s K9 Nitro to get donation of body armor

Hodgenville Police Department’s K9 Nitro will receive a bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.  K9 Nitro’s vest is sponsored by Rachel Lepree of Morristown, TN and will be embroidered with the sentiment “Born to Love-Trained to Serve-Loyal Always”.  Delivery is expected within eight to ten weeks.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., established in 2009, is a 501(c)(3) charity 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. This potentially lifesaving body armor for four-legged K9 officers is U.S. made, custom fitted, and NIJ certified. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. has provided over 4,740 vests to K9s in all 50 states at a value of $6.9 million, made possible by both private and corporate donations. 

The program is open to U.S. dogs that are at least 20 months old and actively employed and certified with law enforcement or related agencies. K9s with expired vests are also eligible to participate.  There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States. 

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. accepts tax-deductible contributions in any amount, while a single donation of $960 will sponsor one vest.  Each vest has a value of $1,744-$2,283, weighs an average of 4-5 lb., and comes with a five-year warranty.  For more information, or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please call 508-824-6978.  Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. providesinformation, lists events, and accepts donations at www.vik9s.org, or you may mail your contribution to P.O. Box 9, East Taunton, MA 02718. 

HPD continues to explore ways to better serve the community with the resources we have while not overreaching fiscally. With the recent surge in calls related to issues that could potentially be better served long term by a social worker, we started to explore options on how to best address this issue. 

HPD is excited to announce a pilot program that we hope will address the issue while not costing taxpayer money or requiring more manpower on the part of the department. We reached out to Larue County’s own Brionna Taylor to ask for help. Brionna is a graduate of Larue County High School and is currently a student at the University of Kentucky, studying to obtain her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work Degree. She is currently working with our local CPS office as part of her degree program.

After seeing Brionna’s passion for the job, we felt she would be perfect for what we envisioned for this new position. We reached out and she was excited to help. After contacting her advisor and working out the legal issues on our end, Brionna start as our new Police Social Worker (PSW) on Monday, November 29th. Although this position is temporary through just her next college semester, we hope to explore ways to continue the program if it sees the success we expect.

The vision for this position is for HPD to have someone other than an officer, to continue outreach to those individuals and families that we respond to in times of crisis. All too often we see officers merely put a band-aid on a problem in order to fix the issue in the moment, but what happens when the band-aid falls off and the issue remains? We hope Brionna is the answer to that question.

For example, if we respond to a juvenile that is suicidal, that issue is not going away after the police leave or take that child to an appropriate mental health provider. The PSW will follow up with that child and their family to offer the resources that can truly help in the long-term. The PSW will network with the local and state resources and community partners to ensure that we bring all of them to bear on the problems facing our citizens. 

Since Brionna is doing this work as part of her degree program, she will not be paid by the city. This will help HPD better serve our community with no funding from taxpayers and allow Brionna to receive vital, real-world training as she continues her education and starts her career. We could not be more excited to start this new journey and look forward to sharing our progress in the future.