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State Officers' Lives in Jeopardy Due to Failure to Replace Body Armor
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(December 19, 2005) - Correctional Officers have charged that the Schwarzenegger administration is dragging its feet in the movement to replace hundreds of bulletproof vests that the federal government has warned could put law enforcement officers' lives at risk due to a weakness in the Zylon fiber used within the vests. The Japanese fiber is now thought to degrade faster than originally anticipated and would allow bullets and other weapons to penetrate it. The U.S. Department of Justice made this advisory back in August, yet the California Department has only just recently started making moves toward recalling and reissuing vests to officers.
Chuck Alexander, Vice President of the CCPOA told the press that he thought the administration's failure to correct the situation was despicable. "It's already a dangerous job. With defective equipment," he said, "It just makes it that much more dangerous."
In December the California Department of General Services started collecting the Zylon vests after it notified state agencies of the potential risks. Nearly 6,000 vests containing the Zylon fiber had been purchased by the state in recent years. State officials did not have any precise figures, but estimated that hundreds of them remained in use by the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The CHP has replaced most of its 4,390 Zylon vests, buying new gear even before the federal advisory and ordering its final batch of replacements in November, according to a spokesman. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation however, has only been able to replace 1,300 of its original 2,100 Zylon vests that are currently being used by parole agents and other officers.
A spokeswoman for Corrections denied the union's claims, saying that they had started replacing the flawed equipment in early 2005 before the latest warning. They claim that because agencies across the country are all looking to replace vests at the same time, it was the manufacturer's inability to deliver so many new vests at once. Corrections told the press that it's not a matter of funding, and they maintain that they are moving to replace these vests "as fast as humanly possible." However, the timeline of reports regarding the Zylon vests, shows that there were known problems before the vests were even distributed to officers in the first place.
Zylon was first questioned back in 2003 when a Pennsylvania officer was wounded when a .40-caliber bullet pierced his vest, and an Oceanside officer was shot and killed while wearing his vest made of Zylon. The vests come from Second Chance Body Armor, Inc., a Michigan-based outfit that is currently being targeted by lawsuits from various state and federal officials.
The state of California paid about $230 for the vests purchased from the Protective Apparel Corporation of America (PACA), which most Corrections Officers were issued, and about $575 for the First Choice brand vests. Currently the state has not filed a claim against Second Chance, but has filed for restitution in Second Chance's recent bankruptcy filing.
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