Wayne County District Attorney A.G. Howell announced the Wayne County Drug Task Force has purchased a full body bite suit and a concealable bite sleeve for K9 Manfred of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department. These pieces of equipment will provide a more realistic training environment for Manfred during apprehension training.
Manfred, a 3-20210317_131705 (1)year-old German Shephard from Jussen, Germany, was purchased with funds from the Wayne County Drug Task Force in 2019. He was officially sworn in as a sheriff’s deputy on July 18, 2019. Aside from drug detection work, Manfred is trained and certified in obedience, tracking people and discarded items, building searches, apprehension work and handler protection. Manfred has been instrumental in assisting in numerous searches and apprehensions.
According to acting Chief Deputy Sheriff Ron Kominski, Manfred’s handler, “The bite suit and the hidden sleeve are both excellent tools to have for apprehension training. Instead of the K9 being fixated on a traditional bite sleeve, the hidden sleeve can be worn under clothing like real world apprehensions. The bite suit will be utilized for apprehension training of running subjects and barricaded subjects where only a leg or a shoulder may be available for the K9 to make the apprehension. Both pieces of equipment will allow training of targeting more than just the arm where the traditional bite sleeves are worn.”