Media Advisory
Contact: Brandon Perkins | Phone: 678-300-3356 | Email: brandon@americanarmor.org

For Immediate Release
May 24, 2017

Fifteen More American Law Enforcement Officers Are Safer On Duty After Receiving Body Armor From The American Armor Foundation

Tyrone, Ga. – A group of law enforcement officers in Oklahoma, Kansas, South Carolina, and Georgia no longer have to perform their risky duties without the protection of body armor after receiving grants from the American Armor Foundation.

To those outside of law enforcement, it’s logical to assume that every officer is issued body armor as part of their standard equipment, but this is not the case in every department. The equipment, ranging in price from $500 to over $1000 per unit, is out of reach for many small departments across the United States. “Conservative estimates place the number of U.S. officers working without a vest at over 100,000”, according to Brandon Perkins, the Founder of American Armor.

Perkins, a Georgia-based police chief, adds, “You never hear about fire departments asking firefighters to go into burning structures without turnout gear because the risk is just too great, but thousands of police officers are working unprotected despite the well known risks of their jobs.”

Agencies most at risk of being underfunded and unable to provide vests to their officers employ 10 officers or less and serve a population of 10,000 or less. According to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, that demographic employs about half of all U.S. officers and these are the agencies American Armor targets for their Body Armor Grant Program.

The current round of funding will provide new body armor to 15 officers in the following departments:

Kiowa County (OK) Sheriff’s Office – 7 vests
Pleasanton (KS) Police Department – 3 Vests
Portal (GA) Police Department – 3 Vests
Ridge Spring (SC) Police Department – 1 Vest
Greenville (GA) Police Department – 1 Vest

This distribution brings the total number of officers protected by American Armor to 35 since its official launch in 2016.

The American Armor Foundation is a registered 501c3 public charity and relies on charitable contributions from individuals and corporations for the funding necessary to provide officers with body armor. In order to make every donated dollar go as far as possible, the organization has arranged a pricing agreement with SRT Supply, Inc. to purchase new Point Blank body armor for about $450 per unit. “Given the full retail cost of new body armor, we’re extremely grateful for this relationship with SRT and Point Blank. It helps us protect more officers with our limited funding”, Perkins said.

Interested parties can learn more about American Armor on their website at www.americanarmor.org. For those interested in making a tax-deductible donation, the organization provides several options including one-time gifts, monthly contributions, and vehicle donations.

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Abide Brewing Company, a microbrewery located in Newnan, Georgia, hosted Brew for the Blue on Saturday February 25 and helped us raise $2,000!

Much of the funding was generated from the sale of $1, $2, and $5 raffle tickets for items that had been donated by local businesses. Prizes included multiple gift cards to local restaurants, range passes to Atlanta Range and Ordnance, Falcons merchandise, Bluetooth Speakers, a Yeti Cooler, and a custom knife from Southern Grind.

Abide kicked in an additional $700 from entry fees.

This was our first fundraiser event of its kind and we’re proud of the outcome. With a little luck, it will become an annual event for us!

We thank everyone who came out in support of our cause!

Media Advisory
Contact: Brandon Perkins | Phone: 678-300-3356 | Email: brandon@americanarmor.org

For Immediate Release
September 19, 2016

The Board of Directors is excited to announce that Chief Brandon Perkins, the Founder & Executive Director of American Armor, has been selected by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) as one of its inaugural 40 Under 40 award recipients!

Each of the recipients are featured in the September 2016 issue of The Police Chief, the official monthly print publication of the IACP. According to the article’s introduction, “The IACP’s 40 Under 40 Award was developed to recognize 40 law enforcement professionals under the age of 40 from around the world who demonstrate leadership and exemplify commitment to their profession.”

Perkins’ section of the article states,

“CHIEF BRANDON PERKINS grew up surrounded by law enforcement because his father, a former police officer, had many friends in the profession. Because of this, Chief Perkins grew up knowing what it means to wear the uniform and the badge. As the chief of the Tyrone Police Department since 2007, he maintains that level of dedication and service he grew up seeing as a child. He is constantly looking for ways to make the department, his officers, and the community better. As a result, Tyrone, Georgia, has ranked in the top eight safest cities in Georgia for three years straight and has experienced a 50 percent reduction in violent crime rates. In 2015, Chief Perkins founded the nonprofit American Armor Foundation, Inc., which assists smaller law enforcement agencies across the United States afford body armor for officers. Chief Perkins strives to make well-informed decisions that have a positive impact on the community every day. He is driven by the feeling of accomplishment that accompanies the implementation of a successful process that gets positive results. 

Those around him describe Chief Perkins as passionate and highly skilled in areas such as community policing, public relations, organizational leadership, staff training, and policy development. He knows what it takes to lead a successful police department and works hard each day to make that a reality in his own community.”

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