Police unveil new emergency ‘go bags’
The Limerick Township Police Department recently unveiled new equipment that can be used to protect officers’ lives in a deadly situation.
Police Chief Brian Skelton and Officer John Kehoe showed the township supervisors one the department’s 17 new “go bags” that can be used during a police emergency, such as an active shooter situation. Each bag comes equippedwith a heavy ballistic vest, a Kevlar helmet, extra magazines for patrol rifles, amedical kit and a key card that gains access to every school in the district. The tan colored bags will be stored inside 15 police patrol vehicles and will be available for use at all times. The two other bags will be stored at the police station as extras or for detectives to use.
The price tag for the bags was $14,013 to equip the entire fleet plus two extra, Skelton said.
“The police are the guardians of our community. We cherish that role,” he said. “But we also have the responsibility to protect our officers.”
In the wake of the police shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La., last year, Skelton requested the supervisors purchase the bags “as a necessary step to protect our officers.”
Kehoe called the bags “a huge morale boost” for offi- cers because it will make it easier to respond to a potentially deadly situation.
Each bag contains a 20-pound, rifle-plated armored vest that comes with extra magazines for patrol rifles. Reflective gear will make officers easily visible in the dark. The bag also contains the same medical kit used by U.S. Army Special Forces and Navy SEALS, Kehoe said.
“We did not reinvent the wheel,” he said. “We went to a few organizations and units that are carrying this on a regular basis and tried to mimic what they have.”
The Kevlar helmet in the bag has a special feature that allows an officer to make it fit their head simply by turning a knob.
“This helmet will work with every one of our officers on a universal setting,” Ke-
hoe said. “You simply click it in and you start twisting. The retention trap inside the helmet tightens it like a baseball cap type fitting. It’s a pretty unique system. And it also of course is the ballistic level that we were looking for.”
Lastly the key card kept inside the ballistic vest will allow officers to enter schools hands free. Officers
will keyless entry systema foot and of thethe school buildings will click open. The previous policy was for officers to keep the key card inside a glove box, which Kehoe criticized. “In a tactical situation, that’s time wasted rifling through.”
The numbered tan bags correspond with the police vehicle to which they will be assigned. The color will stand out inside the vehicle’s black and gray trunk, Skelton said.
The police department purchased the bags from the Body Armor Megastore, which is opening a facility in Limerick off of Linfield-Trappe Road, Kehoe said.
“So it’s a local resident building, a local business we were able to get the products, the helmet and several pieces of the gear off of him,” he said. “So it’s nice to be able to buy local, use local. We’re trying to keep it as close to home as possible.”
After the presentation, Supervisor Elaine DeWan asked why the bags will be stored in the trunk as opposed to the headrest of the passenger seat as had previously been suggested. Kehoe said the plastic straps inside a police vehicle don’t hold up. Additionally, the bags constantly banging against the door. Lastly, there is no separation in back of the vehicle, meaning every time police put someone for transport into the back, they would have to move the bags. Kehoe said he prefers keeping the bags in the trunk because it allows him to put the vehicle between himself and what ever threat he is facing. “I’m pulling up to something, so I can control where the nose, the engine block, the meat of the vehicle is going to be between me and whatever the threat might be,” he said. Officers are currently training to get out of vehicle and put the gear on their bodies in under a minute Skelton reiterated how happy officers were to learn the board had signed off on the new equipment, especially considering the fact he brought the suggestion during budget time. He said he hopes the bags will never need to be used.
Board Chairwoman Kara Shuler called the decision “a no brainer.”
“It can’t happen soon enough because you don’t know when you’re going to need one of those,” she said. “It’s our pleasure.”