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NYPD IRONING OUT BUGS IN ?FAILING' BULLETPROOF VES
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
NYPD IRONING OUT BUGS IN `FAILING' BULLETPROOF VESTS
By MURRAY WEISS
September 5, 2002 -- EXCLUSIVE
About 1,000 uniformed cops on the front line of the city's war on crime are using bulletproof vests that failed to stop bullets in NYPD tests, The Post has learned.
The life-and-death problem surfaced in May, when a young cop noticed that his relatively new vest was losing its resilience and remained wrinkled every time he put it on before he went out on patrol, officials said.
The cop informed his supervisors his vest seemed to be breaking down, which prompted police brass to order their firearms experts to test the protective gear at their Rodman's Neck range.
The marksmen placed several of the vests on wooden targets and opened fire.
They were shocked to see high-powered bullets whiz through the body armor without slowing down, when the slugs normally were blocked by the Kelvar threading.
The NYPD official sent several of the vests to an independent laboratory in Maryland to confirm the findings in a controlled environment, and the results were the same.
"The vests weren't stopping certain bullets, but it was not cut and dry," said Chief Michael Collins, an NYPD spokesman.
"Some tests were done with the same weapons, and when we fired different bullets, some .45s and 9 mm were stopped, while others were not," he said.
A state official from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently visited the range to investigate the situation, presumably to determine if the vests were defective and posed a danger to the cops, sources said.
In the next two weeks, the NYPD will be identifying the 900 to 1,000 cops wearing the failing vests and begin to replace them. Police sources said those vests, which cost about $400 each, were bought in 1999 and are being worn by the newest cops on patrol.
The NYPD also plans to obtain a different model, Collins said, and will test other shipments to determine if they also need replacing.
"The issue was raised when the vests looked like they were creased and they were not returning to their original form," he said, noting that their strength is affected by wear and tear.
He said the decision was delayed by a number of factors beyond getting independent lab tests, which included the fact that records at the Florida-based manufacturer, Point Blank Body Armor, were damaged by a hurricane
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/56384.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By MURRAY WEISS
September 5, 2002 -- EXCLUSIVE
About 1,000 uniformed cops on the front line of the city's war on crime are using bulletproof vests that failed to stop bullets in NYPD tests, The Post has learned.
The life-and-death problem surfaced in May, when a young cop noticed that his relatively new vest was losing its resilience and remained wrinkled every time he put it on before he went out on patrol, officials said.
The cop informed his supervisors his vest seemed to be breaking down, which prompted police brass to order their firearms experts to test the protective gear at their Rodman's Neck range.
The marksmen placed several of the vests on wooden targets and opened fire.
They were shocked to see high-powered bullets whiz through the body armor without slowing down, when the slugs normally were blocked by the Kelvar threading.
The NYPD official sent several of the vests to an independent laboratory in Maryland to confirm the findings in a controlled environment, and the results were the same.
"The vests weren't stopping certain bullets, but it was not cut and dry," said Chief Michael Collins, an NYPD spokesman.
"Some tests were done with the same weapons, and when we fired different bullets, some .45s and 9 mm were stopped, while others were not," he said.
A state official from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently visited the range to investigate the situation, presumably to determine if the vests were defective and posed a danger to the cops, sources said.
In the next two weeks, the NYPD will be identifying the 900 to 1,000 cops wearing the failing vests and begin to replace them. Police sources said those vests, which cost about $400 each, were bought in 1999 and are being worn by the newest cops on patrol.
The NYPD also plans to obtain a different model, Collins said, and will test other shipments to determine if they also need replacing.
"The issue was raised when the vests looked like they were creased and they were not returning to their original form," he said, noting that their strength is affected by wear and tear.
He said the decision was delayed by a number of factors beyond getting independent lab tests, which included the fact that records at the Florida-based manufacturer, Point Blank Body Armor, were damaged by a hurricane
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/56384.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
"A wise man is a man that realizes just how little he knows"
The poor bastids might as well be wearing body bags for all the good those vests are going to do. $400K is a drop in the welfare bucket in NYC. They should have had new ones as soon as they could have been shipped from a different manufacturer. What a ****ing disgrace!!!