DC Canine Harnesses Supplied to Derbyshire Constabulary

Since providing our canine body armour for police forces in West Mercia and Staffordshire, Derbyshire Constabulary are now issuing their general purpose and firearms support dogs with these protective harnesses.

Defence Composite’s canine body armour consists of a comfortable harness with inserts for panels which offer multi-threat protection.

As well as keeping police dogs safe from day-to-day risks such as cuts from barbed wire and rusty nails, these harnesses also offer protection against knives, bladed weapons, ballistics, physical assault and blunt impact whilst allowing free movement and comfort.

Manufactured from our Greater Manchester factory, all our canine harnesses provide the same Home Office standards as those worn by police officers.

In 2018, Derbyshire’s PD Axle was stabbed 3 times as he chased and caught a man. Fortunately, Axle recovered after life-saving surgery and returned to full-time duty for a further year before retiring in November 2019. Since then, ‘Finn’s Law’ was passed by parliament, making it a criminal offence to injure service animals, including police dogs.

We worked closely with Derbyshire’s PC Molloy and adapted our lightweight Hurricane harness with custom options – including release clips on the front/neck area for easy fitting and two additional grab handles. MOLLE heavy-duty nylon webbing was also added so that a firearms dog could potentially carry a video camera.

We were thrilled to work with Derbyshire Constabulary and to help prevent further horrendous injuries on their hard working dogs who are well loved and part of the policing family.