With A New Round Of Grant Funding, 15 More American LEOs Have Access To Body Armor

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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