Marquette County police K-9 vests

Four-legged crimefighters in Marquette County have another tool to keep them safe on the job.

Frodo and Scud, the Marquette City Police K-9 units, and Czar, the Sheriff’s Department’s tracking dog, now have protective gear.

They’ve received bulletproof and stab-proof vests.

A grant from a Massachusetts nonprofit group paid for the vests.

“I’d been thinking about getting vests for the dogs for quite a while, ever since Nero (the city’s previous police dog, passed away), but the grants for the money was the problem,” Marquette County Central Dispatch operator Lori Fries said. “Most of the places have grants, but it’s state-specific. We came across this through social media.”

The Kevlar vests cost $950 each, which is quite a bit less than what they would have cost without a special discount.

“They were able to get a government rate for the vests,” Fries said. “Normal vests, like the ones that these guys have now, are about $2,000, and that’s why P.D.’s have such a hard time getting them.”

The Marquette Police buys vests for its human officers from a company in downstate Central Lake. That same company also made the three K-9 vests.