Title
Consider a memorandum/resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into a grant agreement with the Texas Office of the Governor for the purpose of replacing rifle resistant body armor for sworn officers assigned to the Killeen Police Department and modifying the maximum annual expenditure with GT Distributors in an amount not to exceed $584,565.
Summary
DATE: January 3, 2023
TO: Kent Cagle, City Manager
FROM: Charles F. Kimble, Chief of Police
SUBJECT: Replacement purchase of rifle resistant body armor for the Police Department
BACKGROUND AND FINDINGS:
In 2017, the Killeen Police Department purchased rifle-resistant body armor for sworn officers via grant funds. The warranted service life of this armor is five years, and the equipment is due for replacement. During FY 2022, the department applied for a state grant with the Office of the Governor, for funds to accomplish 100% replacement of the body armor. $260,000 was awarded to the City via this grant to accomplish this purchase.
Sworn officers with the Killeen Police Department routinely respond to calls for service, conduct investigations, execute search warrants and make arrests, all of which can potentially expose them to gunfire. Other sworn employees of the department, while assigned to primarily administrative duties, can be called on at any time to assist with/react to such high-risk activities. The department has documented history responding to active shooter incidents and other criminal activity such as homicides, aggravated assaults, aggravated robberies, and other crimes where weapons are involved, and in many of these incidents the firearms involved are rifles, or use rifle-caliber ammunition.
Sworn employees are afforded soft body armor and are required to wear it while performing uniformed duties. Traditional soft body armor is not sufficient by design to protect against high-caliber rifle ammunition. As such, additional rifle-resistant armor is a practical piece ...
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