Justice Department Agrees
To Leahy-Campbell Request For Probe
Of Faulty Bulletproof Vests

…senators ask DOJ to expand inquiry to include all makers of faulty vests

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Nov. 18) – At the request of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed to investigate whether a Michigan-based company knowingly provided faulty bulletproof vests to police agencies participating in the Department of Justice Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program, which was authored by the two lawmakers.

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

Attorney General John Ashcroft’s office notified the senators Tuesday that DOJ would investigate the manufacturer of the Zylon-based bulletproof vests, as well as the standards used by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in their testing and evaluation of the defective vests that were approved for use in the grant program.

“Close doesn’t count when the lives of police officers are on the line,” said Leahy.  “They deserve the protection they expect from these vests.  They deserve better than this from the companies that make these vests and from the agencies responsible for ensuring their quality.  I commend the attorney general for agreeing that this disturbing situation warrants a closer look.  One defective vest for any police officer is one vest too many, and that should be our standard.”  Leahy is the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Justice Department and its agencies.

Leahy and Campbell are the principal authors of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Acts of 1998 and 2000.  The senators have grown increasingly concerned that the lives of police officers are in needless danger because of defective body armor.  One Pennsylvania officer was shot in the abdomen in June 2003 when the front panel of his vest was penetrated by a .40-caliber bullet. The vest he was wearing was only seven months old.

Second Chance Body Armor Inc. of Central Lake, Mich. -- the primary manufacturer of the Zylon-based armor -- has since recalled the vests and offered police agencies upgrades to replace them.  Illinois Tuesday became the latest state to launch an investigation of the faulty vests, and the Massachusetts attorney general Monday filed a lawsuit against Second Chance as well as against Toyobo Corp., the manufacturer of Zylon.  More than 30 body armor manufacturers across the country continue to produce, market and sell Zylon-based vests in one fabric configuration or another, according to reports.  To date, Second Chance may be the only firm to have pulled these vests from its product line 

Leahy and Campbell have asked Attorney General Ashcroft to bar the company from participating in the program if the firm is found to have knowingly sold the defective vests.  And in a new letter to Ashcroft, Leahy and Campbell Tuesday also asked the attorney general to investigate and, if necessary, bar other firms from participation in the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program if any of the manufacturers knowingly sold defective bulletproof vests made with Zylon.  

In the letter to the senators today, the attorney general’s office told Leahy and Campbell that DOJ will provide the law enforcement community with all the up-to-date information about body armor, assist agencies in obtaining replacements for the defective vests, and convene a summit of all the parties involved within 120 days.

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.  Federal law enforcement officials have routinely been issued vests.

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