NCJ Number
172488
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 65 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1998) Pages: 23-24,26
Date Published
1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Through the Survivors' Club, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the DuPont Company have sought to inspire and encourage law enforcement personnel to think and act with safety in mind and to wear their personal protective vests daily.
Abstract
The Survivors' Club is composed of those officers who have survived potentially fatal and/or disabling injuries through the use of personal body armor of any brand or material, and the Club intends to pay tribute to those officers with the foresight to "dress for survival." The Club's goals are to reduce death and disability by encouraging increased wearing of personal body armor; to recognize and honor those deserving individuals who, as a result of wearing personal body armor, have survived life- threatening or disability-threatening incidents; and to serve the law enforcement community by collecting and disseminating data concerning these events. As of January 1, 1998, the Survivors' Club had documented and recorded more than 2,150 law enforcement officers' lives saved by wearing personal body armor since its inception in May 1987. These data reveal at least one important trend; accidents are nearly as great a threat to law enforcement officers as assaults. Fortunately, vests can help reduce the threat of injury or death from the many dangers facing law enforcement officers by providing a protective wrap around the vital organs of the body. History shows that soft body armor is not only bullet-resistant, but has provided protection in such life-threatening events as falls, car crashes, motorcycle spills, explosions, stabs, slashes, punctures, and several thermal threats. This article includes survivors' stories that provide testimony to the life-saving protection of body armor in a variety of life-threatening events.