Old bulletproof vests sent to officers in need

Jamie Erickson dons his bulletproof vest every day before he leaves the house for work. It’s practically a “second skin” for the peace officer in Kneehill County, who has been on the job for 14 years.

But it’s a luxury not all law enforcement officers can afford, even just south of the border in the U. S.

Due to small budgets and small departments in certain municipalities, many officers are forced to pick up the tab for their own protective equipment — a vest can cost nearly $ 1,000 — or they don’t wear one at all, according to Capt. Clint Reck, a 27- year veteran of the Muscle Schoals Police Department in Alabama.

That fact inspired Reck to launch the Armor of God Project in 2009, a non- profit ministry that distributes used and donated vests to officers in need. He’d previously spearheaded efforts to send vests to police officers in the Philippines. At least one of them has saved an officer’s life in that country.

“At the time, I didn’t realize there were officers in the United States who didn’t have vests because our department supplies new vests every five years,” said Reck, a former SWAT team leader and K9 officer.

“It was kind of mind blowing that people in the United States were working without vests.”

Reck started gathering donated vests from departments across the country, including the New York and Virginia state police departments.

After hearing about the project, the Alberta Association of Community Police Officers reached out to its members and collected dozens of used vests to donate to the project.

“After this many years of wearing a vest, every day, all day, it feels absolutely odd to not have one on at work,” said Erickson, the association’s president. “I couldn’t imagine leaving home ( for work) without wearing one and without that peace of mind.”

Most ballistic vests have a five- year warranty from manufacturers before they “expire” for liability reasons. After that, officers are issued new vests and the old ones are often left in storage or shredded, explained Reck.

Though they may not have a warranty or be brand new, a gently used vest is “better than nothing,” he said.

“I would rather take it and wear it than not have anything,” Reck continued. “A polyester shirt’s not going to stop a bullet, so this out- of- date vest is better than nothing. We’re averaging about 25 to 30 vests every week, so there’s a lot of requests and we’re trying to fill them.”