CMPD gets new protective gear to combat powerful weapons

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers now have new protection when they answer calls where there may be an active shooter armed with high-powered weapons.

Eyewitness News got the first look at new equipment Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers can wear when they're responding to those calls. The equipment includes steel-plated vests and Kevlar helmets that are now standard equipment in patrol cars.

Charlotte City Council approved the purchase of almost 700 vests and more than 1,300 helmets one month after officers were killed during an ambush in Dallas, Texas, in July, 2016. CMPD began stocking their patrol cars with them in the last two months.

CMPD Capt. Dave Johnson popped the trunk on a patrol car in his Central Division and pulled out the kit that includes the vest and helmet.

"So if officers are responding to an active-shooter call where we have shots being fired,
it just takes a few seconds," Johnson said. "Officer pops the trunk, pops on the helmet, pops on this," he added.

"This is purely defensive," Deputy Chief Jeff Estes said.
"This is something to protect the officers when they face high powered-rifles."

The vests with two steel plates offer significantly more protection than the standard Kevlar vests worn by officers under their uniforms.

“This will stop most rifle rounds,” Johnson said. “This vest will stop a much more powerful, more deadly projectile than this (Kevlar) vest will.”

Cox Media Group