The Kosciusko Police Department is donating its current bulletproof vests and will be receiving new ones. The department’s vests are expired and unable to be sold, so twelve are being donated to the Durant Police Department along with twelve others to the Lexington Police Department.
Police Chief Chris Wray applied for and secured the Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Grant that will fund the purchase of new bulletproof vests for the department for an estimated total of $11,496.16. The federal grant provides $6,000, and the state will match the other $6,000 — totaling $12,000 in funding. The purchase will include 13 level 3A vests, 13 soft trauma plates, and 13 Oregon City armor carriers.
After approval at the Feb. 15 aldermen meeting, Mayor Tim Kyle said the new vests will be easier for officers to equip and remove.
“The type of vests they wear now are to-your-body, and it’s kind of like guys who play football putting on sweaty shoulder pads all the time. The new vests are going to be outer vests, over their clothes, so if (officers) are at the PD, they can easily unzip it and take it off.”
Wray said the vests will help officers carry their gear more efficiently and would be cooler during the hot summers.
“They’ll be able to carry equipment on their vest that they normally carry around their waist. Now, we want police officers to carry tasers, guns, body cams, radios, handcuffs, all of these things, and this will allow them to carry some of that equipment like a radio and taser on their vest,” said Wray. “We are going to go with a 3A, which is a little bit thicker and a little bit heavier, so it would be nicer to carry that on an outer vest instead of concealed underneath your shirt in the summertime.”
Ward Two Alderman Henry Daniel asked Wray how long it would take for the new vests to expire.
“Five years,” Wray responded. “So, we priced every officer right now that either has an expired vest or has been issued a used vest so they can get fitted for a new vest.”
Wray said the funds expire in August, and that’s why the department requested approval to order the vests now. After the city purchases the vests, the federal government will reimburse the $6,000, and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety will match those funds.
“It's a new grant that’s done by DPS. For what they consider to be mid-sized to smaller cities with populations of 10,000 or less, they will match those federal funds,” said Wray. “We quoted under $12,000, so that we could get all of these for free through the grant.”
