Wayne County Sheriff ‘s Cpl. Rick Cadez and his partner, K-9 Gunner, cautiously weaved through the side streets of Inkster one dark night in late April. It was pouring rain. They were searching for two men who fled from a shooting. Witnesses warned Cadez that the men were armed.
It was on Gunner to find the suspects, so he was out front, which meant if shots were fired, Gunner would take the bullets first. The dog had no bulletproof vest to protect him, a reality that was never far from Cadez’s mind.
“You’re always hypervigilant of your surroundings and, at any moment, you can encounter those armed individuals,” Cadez said. “You wouldn’t want one of your partners, a human, not protected with a vest. (Gunner’s) a member of the police department, too. Tracking in heavy rain really disturbs the ground scent for the dog and the suspects got away. But you’re tracking someone who’s armed, and it would have been beneficial to have the dog wearing a vest.”
Situations such as that one inspired Cadez to take action. Earlier this year, Cadez applied for a custom-fitted ballistics vest for Gunner from Brady’s K-9 Fund, a nonprofit started in 2018 by a then-8-year-old boy in Ohio that provides bulletproof vests for police and military dogs. In late March, Gunner was approved to get a vest.