LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A very important member of the Elizabethtown Police Department (EPD) is getting the gear she needs to stay safe, thanks to a stranger’s generosity. Police K-9 Indy will have better protection on the job with a special new bullet- and stab-proof vest.

Four-year-old Indy has been working with EPD for over two years. She’s trained as a narcotics dog.

“One thing I’ve learned with this job: anything can change in a split second, and you just never know,” said her new handler, officer Peyton Payne. 

Payne said that’s why he’s so glad she was recently given her new protective vest.

“It would prevent, obviously, if somebody was to shoot her, and being stabbed at, just protect her vital organs,” he said. 

Nonprofit Vested Interest in K9s donated Indy’s vest to the department. The group raises money for body armor for police K-9s.

Indy’s vest was made possible by a donation from a woman on the other side of the state, in Mayfield. She didn’t have a connection to the Elizabethtown Police Department and didn’t know where the vest would be donated when she paid for it.

However, she donated in memory of her son, Paul Stefanow Junior, whose name Indy now wears on her chest.

With this most recent donation, all three of EPD’s K-9s have been outfitted with the protective armor through the nonprofit. 

Indy is learning to adjust to her new vest, which is heavier and hotter than the harness she was used to wearing before. Meanwhile, Payne, who was recently promoted as her handler and focus on narcotics, is preparing to start a five-week training with his new partner in Louisville. The pair is bonding on the job before training begins. 

Once Payne and Indy have trained together, they’ll be on the road a lot, assisting with calls in Elizabethtown and other agencies in the area when they need help with drug cases.

“There’s a huge problem with drugs right now, especially fentanyl, and it’s killing people,” Payne said. “I hope to, once I get done with the training, go sit on [Interstate] 65. A lot of narcotics move up and down 65 because it’s a main interstate running north and south ... [I want to] see if I can get into some good stuff and get some narcotics off the street.”

Payne knows it will be hard work, but partnering with Indy is already paying off, he said. 

“I come back, and I see her with her tongue out and smiling ... it’s like, ‘Come play with me,’” he said. “That just turns the bad call into a good call, and it makes the day better.” 

Vested Interest in K9s provides body armor for police dogs across the U.S. Since the nonprofit was created in 2009, it has donated over 5,350 K-9 vests to law enforcement agencies.

While each vest has a value of $1,800, a donation of $985 sponsors one vest. The body armor weighs about four to five pounds, and each vest is custom-fitted to the K-9.

Vested Interest in K9s accepts donations online and by mail at P.O. Box 9, East Taunton, Massachusetts, 02178.