Leahy Seeks Probe
Of Firm That Produced
Faulty Bulletproof Vests

WASHINGTON (Thursday, Nov. 6) – Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Co.) Thursday called on Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate a Michigan-based company that may have knowingly provided faulty bulletproof vests to police agencies receiving grants through the Department of Justice Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program.

Related Links: Letter - From Leahy And Campbell Asking Attorney General John Ashcroft For Expanded Inquiry 11/18/03 News Release - Justice Department Agrees To Leahy-Campbell Request For Probe Of Faulty Bulletproof Vests 11/18/03 News Release - Leahy Seeks Probe Of Firm That Produced Faulty Bulletproof Vests 11/6/03

As the principal authors of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Acts of 1998 and 2000, Leahy and Campbell sent a letter to the Attorney General expressing their outrage that Second Chance Body Armor Inc., a vendor whose Ultima © and Ultimax © vests were authorized by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to participate in the grant program, may have passed on defective equipment.

“Our police officers deserve to wear bulletproof vests that stop bullets.  We count on the men and women of law enforcement to put their lives at risk in protecting our states and our communities, and they should be able to count on their government to make sure that none of these risks are needless,” said Leahy, the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Department of Justice and its programs.  “I expect the Attorney General to take this just as seriously as we do, and I hope he will promptly investigate so we can put an end to these vests turning up in our police departments.”

In the past two years, Second Chance Body Armor, of Central Lake, Mich., has retrieved from the field more than 200 Ultima© vests from 37 different agencies in 19 different states due to safety concerns.

According to the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program’s database, 8,344 suspect vests have been purchased to date.  At a cost of about $875 per vest, at least $7,301,000 has been spent by officers and agencies on the vests purchased with matching federal grants from the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. 

The senators are also concerned that the firm has refused to reimburse law enforcement officers for the cost of these faulty bulletproof vests or even to recall their faulty vests.  Instead, the company gives officers the choice of a free upgrade involving the insertion of additional pads – neither tested by NIJ nor meeting NIJ standards – to assure vest performance throughout the warranty period, or to purchase at a discounted cost of $329 Second Chance’s top-of-the-line vest.

“It’s unacceptable for any police officer to be forced to pay from his or her own pocket to make sure the vests they wear will do the job,” said Leahy.  “I’ve had police officers in my home state of Vermont call to tell me they can’t afford to buy these vests.  I’m sure they are not alone.”

In their letter, Leahy and Campbell ask the Attorney General to make sure that all of the company’s vests meet NIJ standards for body armor as required by the grant program.  If the equipment fails to meet those requirements, Leahy and Campbell have asked the Attorney General to bar the company from participating in the program.

The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program helps protect the lives of law enforcement officers by aiding states and units of local and tribal governments in equipping their officers with armor vests.  Leahy and Campbell created the program in response to a 1997 shooting incident on the Vermont-New Hampshire border, in which two state troopers who did not have bulletproof vests were killed.  


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