Guilford- When Guilford police officer Robert Dubé heads off to work, he dresses like every other working guy in Connecticut with one big exception: he dons a bullet-proof vest.
“If they are working, they're wearing a bullet-proof vest,” said Deputy Chief of Police Jeffrey C. Hutchinson of his officers.
In late August, the Guilford Police Department had a surprise land on their laps: all 38 of the bullet-proof vests owned and worn by their department are now “decertified” by the federal government.
“It doesn't mean that these are unsafe vests,” said Hutchinson. “It means that after the federal government did their own testing, they determined that any vest with any amount of the product Zylon in it will be decertified.”
Late this summer, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would no longer approve body armor made with the synthetic fiber Zylon because tests showed bullets could penetrate it.
The federal government released an extra $10 million to help law enforcement nationwide pay for new vests.
Typically, the federal and state governments have split the cost of replacing an officer's vest every five years, but many of the potentially defective vests in use are less than five years old, said Hutchinson.
The Department of Justice study found that nearly six of 10 vests containing Zylon failed to properly stop a bullet. The research showed that Zylon and other bulletproof materials can degrade as a result of exposure to environmental conditions such as moisture and light.
So now the police department must spend in the vicinity of $600 to $900 for the right vest, in the right model, from the right manufacturer and supplier.
The news from the government couldn't have come at a worse time for the Guilford Police Department.
“We received replacement vests one day after the government informed us of the change,” said Hutchinson.
The deputy chief is referring to the cycle the police department adheres to regarding the “normal life” of a bullet-proof vest.
“The normal life of a vest was five years, which is determined by the manufacturer,” said Hutchinson. “So every five years, someone on the force gets a new vest.”
The department makes an application to the Bullet Proof Vest Partnership, a program funded by the federal government, for a 50 percent reimbursement of funds spent on the purchase of new vests.
A new product came on the market a few years back called Zylon, which made the vests lighter and more comfortable.
“The manufacturer determined that the true life of Zylon is 2 1/2 years, not five,” said Hutchinson.
Thus the police department knew they had to replace certain vests, those which contained Zylon, every 2 1/2 years, according to the government.
“Now, the government determined that any vest, with any amount of Zylon, will be decertified,” he said.
Hutchinson is in the process of working with suppliers and manufacturers to determine which vests should be purchased for the department.