FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Five Indiana State K9 officers can work efficiently and more safely after they received ballistic vests.

The vests were donated by the community and Richville’s United Methodist Church.

Gary J. Ford, the Pastor, took the initiative with his congregation to raise funds to purchase five ballistic vests.

Three vests are donated to K9 officers in Fort Wayne and two for K9’s in Bremen.

The vests were delivered to the ISP Fort Wayne post Friday.

The K9’s to receive the vests are:

Jake (Senior Trooper Nicholas Meade)

Duke (Trooper Christopher Davis)

Zeus (Trooper Tyson Waldron)

Chase (Master Trooper David Caswell)

Nala (Trooper Kyle Glaze)

"This gift from the Richville UMC shows the tremendous support we have from members of the community and the belief they have in what our K-9 teams are doing on a day-to-day basis. They value that support and work tirelessly to earn it each and every day, with each and every interaction. Our K-9 teams are extremely humbled, yet honored by this donation.” said Sergeant Ron Galaviz, Public Information Officer for the Fort Wayne Post.