This summer there are a number of police forces who are donning a little extra protection. Even on the hottest days of the year, police officers are taking extra care to wear the required body armor clothing that can keep them safe while they are on the job. Between preparing off the job by target practicing with steel targets and wearing the best kind of tactical body armor, police forces of all sizes are making sure that they are doing everything possible to make sure that they are staying as safe as possible.
Fortunately, even smaller police forces can afford the tactical gear that they need because many larger forces list their body armor plates for sale when they upgrade to newer models. Likewise, some steel targets can serve a longer purpose when they are offered at a sale price to smaller departments when ever there is a purchase of newer supplies by an larger department.
As the nation continues to grapple with the challenges surrounding the gun debate, it is often the police officers who find themselves in the most vulnerable situations. As more and more departments increase the budget amounts that they are able to spend on both tactical gear and practice targets, communities of all sizes hope that these investments are going to pay off in saved lives for both officers and others involved. Consider some of these facts and figures about the equipment that is used around the nation:
- 71% of local police departments in 2013 required officers to wear armor vests at all times, according to a survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
- Of the 66 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in the year 2016, 62 were assaulted with firearms.
- 87 police officers in New York City alone have been saved by body armor since the year 1978.
- Over the past three decades, armor vests have saved the lives of more than 3,000 law enforcement officers.
- 66 law enforcement officers were criminally killed in the line of duty in the year 2016, according to FBI data.
- For officers who do not wear armor vests, the chance of dying from a gunshot wound to the torso is 3.4 times higher than those officers who are wearing armor.
Making sure that those who are protecting the community are safe is an important reason that more and more police departments across the nation are upgrading their target practice materials and their armored wear.
