Local sheriff’s office receives funding for life saving body armor
Keeping our police officers safe in the line of duty is a top priority and to help ensure they stay safe, they are required to wear protective body armor. But those shields come at a price, and it’s not cheap.
47 ABC spoke with Dorchester County Sheriff James Phillips who tells us, “Unfortunately we live in a time where that piece of equipment is essential to the safety and well being of the officers.”
Phillips says they need 22 body armor vests to protect his deputies on duty and he has them, but they’re outdated. Phillips says the vests need to be replaced every 5 years so the Sheriff applied for state grant money to pay for body armor and received just over $3,000 from the Governors Office of Crime Control and Prevention, the third highest among 17 Maryland law enforcement agencies.
Sheriff Phillips tells 47 ABC, “We’re fortunate that we got the state funding this year. It’s an absolute necessity yes.”
However each vest comes with a $775 price tag, so for 22 vests, the total cost comes in at $17,050. The grant money knocks that down to about $14,008. Half of that will be paid by the US Department of Justice and the other half, from local taxpayers.
Sheriff Phillips tells 47 ABC, “It’s all taxpayer dollars but it’s another way that our local tax dollars come back to benefit the local economy because we’re helping to protect our peacekeepers with the funds that are coming.”
In an ideal world, Phillips says more funds would be better, but in the grand scheme of things Sheriff Phillips says, “Am I let down because we only got three thousand dollars? Somewhat but then I look at the seventeen other sheriffs offices that applied and you know we were the third highest recipients so I’m pleased at that and I’m very appreciative that we got funding for it.”
Sheriff Phillips says even though these are normally referred to as bullet proof, they really are deemed bullet resisting. Their specific type, 3A, will prevent penetration by certain firearms but could bruise and break ribs depending on the type. The vests are made specifically to fit each officers body, and all 22 vests ordered normally take 60 to 90 days to be delivered.
