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St. Petersburg Police K-9 program shares photo of K-9 'Darth' Vater in effort to win $5,000 grant

Officer Vater's K-9 'Darth' Vater wants your votes
Posted at 6:52 AM, Oct 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-18 06:52:26-04

Police Department K-9 programs across the country are vying for your votes to help them win a portion of $15,000 in grants to help build their programs. 

PHOTOS | K-9 Officers who serve and protect the Tampa Bay Area

A total of $15,000 in grants will go to five departments based on votes from the public. The grants will help with maintenance, safety equipment or officer training. Officers and members of the community can nominate and vote for local departments and the top five departments with the most votes will be awarded grants. 

  • 1st place will receive $5,000
  • 2nd place will receive $4,000
  • 3rd place will receive $3,000
  • 4th place will receive $2,000
  • 5th place will receive $1,000

St. Petersburg Police Department is getting creative with their effort to gather votes. They shared a photo of K-9 officer 'Darth' Vater dressed up (photo-shopped) as the Star Wars villain. They posted the photo on their Facebook page with the caption:

"K-9 "Darth" Vater says that it's your destiny to vote for them to win a $5,000 Grant!
Meet K-9 "Darth" Vater -- the Vater part comes from his dad Officer Kevin Vater :)
We're kind of slipping in the polls so the more shares and votes we can get would be AWESOME!"

Click here to vote. You can vote every day for your favorite local department. Voting runs from October 11, 2017 to November 7, 2017. 

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