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PROTECTION & APPAREL www.officer.com November 2014 Law Enforcement Technology 35 year. (The federal grant covers about half of the police department's total cost for the vests.) Brookhaven Major Brandon Gurley says they are purchasing Level 2 vests from the Fort Meyers, Fla. company Survival Armor. He says they'd con- sidered several factors before finally deciding on the new equipment, including quality, customer reviews, pricing, and how quickly orders could be filled. Another US police force updat- ing its protective gear is Burlington, North Carolina. Almost three years following a large-scale drug investigation which saw about $1.7 million recovered in funds, Burlington Police Department is putting some of that DOJ drug money towards new armor from Protech. Chief Jeffrey Smythe is convinced getting the right equipment to the right people decreases line of duty deaths—which is why this agency, like Brookhaven, has a rigid mandatory wear policy in place. "When I got here it [the policy] was a little loose; it had some holes," says Smythe. "Some people didn't wear the armor on hot days…or received notes from doctors." Those days are now but a memory. Smythe says he eliminated all the loopholes and officers will be expected to don the protective gear regularly. Cultural shift and change Sadly in many places police and sher- iff deputies face a whole new host of threats. For example, Smythe feels the upsurge of police officer assassinations in the country is cause for concern. In his North Carolina community Smythe says they've received intel that gang members are targeting police at their vehicles and homes. "Apart from that there's also the anti-governmentalist homegrown ter- rorist kind of folks that really want the limelight, and they do that by targeting police," says Smythe. "I think we have this kind of cultural shift where it's ok to hate the police. It's vitally important that we're giving our officers the appro- priate equipment and the appropriate training and protocols to better protect themselves." Sizing up threats On body armor upgrades, Smythe says, "I think the timing's right. Sometimes we're going into an environment where rifle fire is likely and we know that our Level 2 and Level 3 body armor doesn't protect us from rifle rounds." Burlington PD's new Level 4 ceramic plates from will go into every first responder police car for heightened threat situations. "So I'm in full uniform, I've got my regular gun belt, I've got my regular concealable Kevlar soft body armor under my uniform shirt…and then on top of my uniform shirt I'll throw on my ceramic plate," says Smythe. "It just adds another level of protection that will stop rifle rounds." Additionally the North Carolina agency is purchasing ballistic helmets for the same reason. "We go to gun calls and we've got shields in the supervi- sors' cars, and we've got shields on the SWAT trucks…but you've still gotta peak around it or over it or around the corner," says Smythe. Level 4 plates in every car means responders don't have to wait the 15 minutes or so for SWAT to arrive. Chief Gary Yandura, Brookhaven (Ga.) Police Department Maj. Brandon Gurley Brookhaven (Ga.) Police Department Sikh temple shooting survivors honored This past August, nearly two years after the tragic shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek that killed six, Congress recognized Oak Creek Police Lieutenant Brian Murphy and Oak Creek Police Officer Sam Lenda by presenting both with the Congressional Badges of Bravery. Sikhs and community members gathered at the temple on the two-year anniversary of the day a white supremacist shot and killed six worshippers. Murphy was the first to arrive at the temple on the day of the shooting. He was shot 12 times, including in the throat, arm and leg, and still has lingering disabilities. Lenda was able to wound the gunman, who later killed himself. Lieutenant Brian Murphy is a 2012 Armor Express 'save', and is now Manager of the Armor Express Saves Program. For more details go to www.wisn.com.