Bad guys got NYPD vests
A TACTICAL GEAR supplier’s contract with the city was recently shot to bits when the NYPD learned that its old bulletproof vests were ending up in the hands of criminals, the Daily News has learned.
The city terminated the contract with New Hampshire-based Body Armor Outlet in April after NYPD officials discovered two vests that once protected New York’s Finest were being worn by suspects at the time of their arrests.
Body Armor had a $20,000 contract with the city’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services to dispose of old NYPD vests. Body Armor was supposed to destroy the used ballistic vests or have them “recycled in a manner that prevents illicit use,” according to the contract.
Body Armor instead resold some of the vests on eBay, including the ones recovered in the arrests.
The NYPD notified the city Department of Investigation in November about the recovered vests, prompting the agency to open a probe, according to sources.
O R O W
A month later, the NYPD sent a cease-and-desist letter to Body Armor, ordering the company to quit hawking the expired NYPD vests on the online auction site.
City investigators also met with Body Armor, which offered to stop reselling vests and follow any disposal guidelines the NYPD wanted. Still, city investigators recommended that DCAS not renew the contract with Body Armor or issue the company new contracts to dispose of vests.
DCAS and the NYPD also pulled the plug on the current contract, which was set to end in May.
“Body Armor Outlet was under New York City contract to dispose of expired bullet-resistant vests in a manner that rendered them unable to be used for illicit purposes,” the NYPD said in a statement to the Daily News.
DOI investigators also referred the case to the Manhattan district attorney’s office for criminal prosecution, according to documents on file with the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services.
But the DA’s office declined to prosecute because the language in the contract was loosely written, allowing for wide interpretation of what “recycling” meant, sources said.
Body Armor’s president, Raymond Bellia, declined to comment.
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