RSS Feed |
|
|
|
|||||
|
Protective Vests Approved For Auxiliary Cops
'Bring Good From Pain' "The killing of Auxiliary Police Officers Pekearo and Marshalik was an awful, cold-blooded crime that shocked our entire city - but now we are determined to turn that pain into a force for good," Mr. Bloomberg told reporters gathered at the 6th Precinct stationhouse, where the slain officers were based. The plan will cost $3.3 million this fiscal year and $617,000 will be committed annually to outfit new members of the volunteer force, Mr. Bloomberg said. It will take nine months to provide the present force with the state-of-the-art resistant vest manufactured by Second Chance Armor Inc. The announcement came after several elected officials called on the NYPD to give the volunteers vests. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said March 20 that the NYPD was "very seriously" considering that idea, but pointed to the high turnover rate in the Auxiliary force as a possible problem. Return When They Go Under the new plan, Mr. Kelly said last week that the Auxiliary Police Officers will be required to return the vests before they leave. "It took a tragedy of this magnitude to get us to focus on this issue," Mr. Kelly added. "In the future, this may save somebody." Shortly after the shooting, he formed a committee to review the recruitment, selection, training and supervision policies of the department's volunteer force. Wants Pepper Spray, Too John Hyland, president of the Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association, was named to that group along with several high-ranking NYPD officials. The union leader said that he hopes the committee agrees to supply the volunteers with a deterrent chemical agent like pepper spray. He is also seeking to persuade the NYPD to update the volunteer force's 150 outdated vehicles. Three Auxiliary Police Officers at last week's press conference hailed the announcement. "Anything that helps protect us is welcome," said Auxiliary Sgt. David Gechlik, who is also a Professor at Empire State College of the State University of New York. Mr. Gechlik said that he used a vest that was donated by Community Planning Board 5 when he worked at the 10th Precinct in Chelsea. "We had about five in different sizes that we could use," he remarked. Last November, the NYPD announced that all fulltime officers would soon be outfitted with new, uniquely designed bulletproof vests, which better protect officers' necks and torsos and are more comfortable to wear. The Police Commissioner noted that on Nov. 28, 2005, Detective Dillon Stewart was fatally shot by a motorist he tried to pull over for running a red light in East Flatbush. The fatal bullet passed through a space on the panels of his vest, Mr. Kelly noted. The new Level 3A vests have to be specially fitted for each officer, which will take two years and cost $18 million. The previous week, Mr. Kelly testified that 5,000 of the new vests had been handed out and an additional 4,000 have been ordered. The department plans to have all 18,000 vests distributed by June 2008. They are certified by the National Institute of Justice to stop both 9mm. and .44 magnum rounds fired from 16 feet with a velocity of 1,400 feet per second, according to the NYPD. As for the slain Auxiliary Police Officers, Mayor Bloomberg noted that their ambitious plans for the future were cut short. "They had their whole lives in front of them; who knows what they could have done," he remarked.
| |||||
)