The Carmel Police Department has been awarded an $8,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance as part of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant. This United States Department of Justice initiative was developed in 1999 for the purpose of partnering with local law enforcement agencies to provide resources for the purchase of protective body armor.
Barlow
Carmel Police Department has been awarded a grant every year since the program began. From 1999 to 2017, the department has received a total of $89,359 toward the purchase of life-saving vests.
“The purchase of these life-saving vests is also an example of Carmel’s commitment to providing our public safety personnel with the tools and equipment they need to protect themselves as they provide security and safety to the citizens of our community,” said Mayor Jim Brainard.
Nationwide, the BVP program has provided $430 million to support the purchase of more than nearly 1.3 million vests by 13,000 police jurisdictions nationwide.
The BVP Act of 2000 gives jurisdictions with fewer than 100,000 residents funding priority. The maximum award of 50 percent of the cost of approved vest purchases was granted to Carmel. The grant money is used to buy new vests to replace older ones that are no longer under manufacturer’s warranty.
Police Chief Jim Barlow said, “Every Carmel Police Officer is issued a bullet-proof vest when they join the force. This great federal program helps us to regularly replace the vests so our officers will know they are well protected if they should ever come under gun fire.”
The bulletproof vests purchased by the Carmel Police Department cost $824 each. Bulletproof vests and other forms of body armor are continually being reviewed, examined and tested by the department’s Office of Justice Programs to ensure their efficacy against more powerful and higher caliber firearms.