Volume 15
August 2017 Edition stable condition at Jamaica Hospital . Courtesy of the NYPD and YouTube .)
Threats posed by firearms , for example , can be quantified and forces outfitted in a way that brings protection level on par with on officer ’ s most common threats .
( Learn More . Regulators say the so-called “ green tip ” rounds used with AR-15 assault rifles can penetrate bullet-proof vests , while critics say any potential ban is an attack on the Second Amendment . Courtesy of CBS This Morning and
YouTube . Posted on Mar 3 , 2015 )
The armor plates purchased by NYSP should stop both .
Ammunition recovered at scene of 8 / 10 / 17 incident . ( Image Credit : NYPD )
It was in this spirit that the New York State Police allocated millions of dollars from the State ’ s emergency grant funding to outfit their entire force with new body armor .
It should have been a worthy use of taxpayer money , but the system failed us .
Improper oversight not only wasted taxpayer money , but also left the entire NY State Police – the second largest police force in the State – unnecessarily vulnerable .
There are two rounds of high-powered ammunition most frequently confiscated by New York State Police :
• The ( 7.62 X 51 ) ballistic fired most commonly from the AK-47 , and
• The ( 5.56 X 45 ) 62 gr . Green tip M855 or ( 5.56 X 45 ) 55gr . M193 fired from AR-15 .
Everything up to this point makes sense . Recognizing their officers faced increasing threats from high-powered rifles firing one of two common rounds , NYSP moved quickly to purchase new armor plates to protect the force against the emerging threat .
Unfortunately , this is where it all went sideways . Armor plates are scored against standards set by the National Institute of Justice ( NIJ ), the research and evaluation agency of the U . S . Department of Justice . And while certification requirements are standard , the acquisition process is anything but .
In fact , there is no standard process for acquiring armor plates . Often , someone with little or no experience leads the acquisition process .
Far too often this leads to suboptimal purchasing decisions ; in the case of the NYSP , it could prove deadly .
The emergency grant required Level III certified body armor plates . Where Level III armor plates
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