{ "id": "R43544", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43544", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 449256, "date": "2016-01-28", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T17:23:32.787126", "title": "Body Armor for Law Enforcement Officers: In Brief", "summary": "Firearms are one of the leading causes of deaths for law enforcement officers feloniously killed in the line of duty. Since FY1999, Congress has provided funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to help them purchase armor vests for their officers. The Matching Grant Program for Law Enforcement Armor Vests (hereinafter, \u201cBPV program\u201d) provides grants to state, local, and tribal governments to purchase armor vests for use by law enforcement officers and court officers. The BPV program was first authorized by the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-181). It has been subsequently reauthorized four times. The most recent reauthorization expired in FY2012. Between FY1999 and FY2012, annual appropriations for the program generally ranged between $25 million and $30 million. However, over the past four fiscal years, annual appropriations for the program were less than $23 million.\nArmor vests can only save lives when they are actually worn. Data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that an increasing percentage of police departments have instituted \u201cmandatory wear\u201d policies. Several factors can affect whether a law enforcement officer will wear an armor vest. Safety concerns are the most significant, followed by whether the officer\u2019s department has a mandatory wear policy. Comfort and fit are also a factor.\nWhile armor vests can only save lives when they are worn, there is also a limit on how long they can be worn and still be effective. No definitive data exist on how long an armor vest will last before it needs to be replaced. Many manufacturers offer a five-year warranty on their vests, but this is not necessarily indicative of their useful lifespan. The age of an armor vest alone does not cause its ballistic resistance to deteriorate. Vest care and maintenance have been shown to have a greater impact than age.\nSimilarly, no definitive data exist on the number of law enforcement officers whose lives have been saved by vests paid for, in part, with funds from the BPV program. A frequently cited statistic is that armor vests have saved the lives of more than 3,000 law enforcement officers over the past 30 years, but it is not known how many of those vests were purchased in part with funds from the BPV program. \nWhile there is no such thing as a totally bulletproof vest, research has shown that armor vests do save lives. The risk of dying from a gunshot wound to the torso is 3.4 times higher for law enforcement officers who do not wear armor vests.\nShould Congress consider legislation to reauthorize the BPV program, policymakers may consider several issues, including (1) what role the federal government should play, if any, in providing armor vests for state and local law enforcement, (2) whether Congress should invest in developing new technology for armor vests, and (3) whether Congress should require law enforcement agencies to provide training on the care and maintenance of body armor as a condition of receiving funding under the BPV program.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43544", "sha1": "7fefb911c127bc9ddafa6e3868ac83252c5c5eb4", "filename": "files/20160128_R43544_7fefb911c127bc9ddafa6e3868ac83252c5c5eb4.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43544", "sha1": "1b646aedbb7b08148ab0c8ac5f859a57ea9e1591", "filename": "files/20160128_R43544_1b646aedbb7b08148ab0c8ac5f859a57ea9e1591.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503320/", "id": "R43544_2015Jan13", "date": "2015-01-13", "retrieved": "2015-04-30T17:37:21", "title": "Body Armor for Law Enforcement Officers: In Brief", "summary": "This report contains an overview of the Matching Grant Program for Law Enforcement Armor Vests (BPV program). It also provides a discussion of data on law enforcement agencies that require their officers to wear armor vests while on duty, research on why officers may choose to wear armor vests, research on the life cycle for armor vests, data on the use of body armor by law enforcement officers who were killed with a firearm, and research on the effectiveness of armor vests.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150113_R43544_cf8806a0eeef5e8934fc999ff2d908e75f0b4f48.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150113_R43544_cf8806a0eeef5e8934fc999ff2d908e75f0b4f48.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal justice", "name": "Criminal justice" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law enforcement", "name": "Law enforcement" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Police", "name": "Police" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306444/", "id": "R43544_2014May13", "date": "2014-05-13", "retrieved": "2014-07-08T21:53:44", "title": "Body Armor for Law Enforcement Officers: In Brief", "summary": "This report contains an overview of the Matching Grant Program for Law Enforcement Armor Vests (BPV program). It also provides a discussion of data on law enforcement agencies that require their officers to wear armor vests while on duty, research on why officers may choose to wear armor vests, research on the life cycle for armor vests, data on the use of body armor by law enforcement officers who were killed with a firearm, and research on the effectiveness of armor vests.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140513_R43544_db47253a21c1e614a01762b9ebbe110c16447e0e.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140513_R43544_db47253a21c1e614a01762b9ebbe110c16447e0e.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law enforcement", "name": "Law enforcement" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Criminal justice", "name": "Criminal justice" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Police", "name": "Police" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations", "Crime Policy" ] }