Vermonters On Hand As President Signs Bill For Bulletproof Vests For Cops

June 16, 1998

WASHINGTON (June 16, 1998) President Clinton Tuesday signed into law a bill advanced through the Senate by Sen. Patrick Leahy, DVt., that will help equip local and state police officers with lifesaving bulletproof vests.

"This bill will save lives, it's that simple," said Leahy, the chief Democratic sponsor of the bill in the Senate. "These vests are not high tech, but they have a high, proven lifesaving value. The unexpected risks are rising for every officer on the beat, and this helps even the odds. Federal officers have these as standard gear, and so should local and state police officers. This is a practical way to protect and thank those who put their lives on the line for the public every day."

Participants in the White House signing ceremony Tuesday included two Vermonters, in addition to Leahy: Vermont State Police Captain A. Marc Metayer, who was the Vermont State Police field commander during the Carl Drega shootout on Aug. 19, 1997; and Springfield Police Chief Barbara Higgins. Metayer was given the role of introducing the President.

The bill, S.1605, was introduced by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, RColo., and by Leahy. Principal sponsors of the counterpart House bill are Reps. Peter J. Visclosky, DInd., and Frank A. LoBiondo, RN.J.

The bill authorizes $25 million for a 50 percent matching grant program within the Department of Justice to help state and local law enforcement agencies purchase body armor for their officers.

Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, won the panel's approval of the bill on Feb. 26 in a vote of 152, and the Senate initially passed it on March 11. The House and Senate approved it in final form on May 15.

According to the FBI, 64 law enforcement officers were slain in the line of duty in 1997, up from 56 in 1996. Leahy noted that some of these deaths might have been prevented if officers were wearing body armor. The FBI reports that more than 30 percent of the 1,182 officers killed by firearms in the line of duty since 1980 could have been saved if they had been wearing body armor and also estimates that the risk of fatality to officers while not wearing body armor is 14 times higher than for officers wearing it. The Department of Justice estimates that approximately 150,000 state and local law enforcement officers nearly onefourth are not issued body armor.

Leahy said the Carl Drega shootout on the VermontNew Hampshire border last year drew attention to the fact that in Vermont, many state and local law enforcement agencies cannot afford to purchase a $500$700 bulletproof vest for each of their officers.

Thirtyeight state attorneys general, organized by Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, have supported the CampbellLeahy Bill.

Under the smallstate minimum Leahy included in the bill, Vermont will receive at least $125,000 per year in matching federal grants for the purchase of about 500 vests. He fought back an amendment during the Senate committee debate that would have reduced the smallstate minimum by twothirds, to a Vermont share of $62,500.