The Governor has signed into law HB 1331 which requires a city, county, or town to provide its police officers with body armor for their torsos. It allows the local units to pay for the body armor from their cumulative capital funds.
Masson's Blog
The Governor has signed into law HB 1331 which requires a city, county, or town to provide its police officers with body armor for their torsos. It allows the local units to pay for the body armor from their cumulative capital funds.
Not sure why this needs to be a state law – has there been some kind of issue that requires this to be addressed at the state level?
That said, I do think police officers should have such armor available.
(Assume ‘policy officers’ was a typo…)
It was a typo. Corrected. Thanks.
Not sure about statewide, but here in my city, they just disbanded the SWAT team due to the fact that the body armor was “expired” (how does a set of armor “expire”) and the city said they didn’t have the cash to replace it. This law forces the locality to furnish something that the police may not even need. The thing that really sticks in my craw about this thing is that the State was more than happy to pass this dog down to the localities without a single dime to pay for it (unfunded mandates anyone?)! Once again, the state makes demands and then passes the bill along without contributing a damn thing! Frankly, I’d be more than willing to have my tax dollars pay the legal fees to get an attorney and just tell the state “No!” than to keep rolling over to their BS demands!
Lots of modern body armor can be thought of as being made of a highly specialized fabric.
With wear and flexing, over time the stopping power of the armor is decreased, just as clothes wear out over time.
parker
You’re so right in that regard.
The “life expectancy” of that type of body armor can be as short as FIVE YEARS.
And it’s NEVER cheap.
Many officers wind up with nice “out-of-pocket” expenses for that.
And many times, the uniform “allowance” doesn’t cover it.