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TO: Mayor Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Commander Rick Robertson
DATE: March 18, 2021
SUBJECT:
Resolution authorizing the City of Aurora to purchase 100 ballistic shields with asset forfeiture and general funds.
PURPOSE:
The Aurora Police Department presently has ballistic shields in most of our police cars, and they have been instrumental in providing officer safety over the years. With that being said, the manufacturer's warranty on such products is five years from the date of production; our present shields have reached their end of life.
BACKGROUND:
The Aurora Police Department identified that police officers are often confronted with situations where ballistic shield protection is needed to protect themselves and citizens during armed confrontations. Ballistic shields were then purchased for most of the cars in the fleet, which were Patriot 3 foldable shields with a manufactured date of March 2013, with a five-year service life. (These are the same shields that are still in service.) These shields are used during person with weapons call, narcotic related enforcement, and a variety of other circumstances where firearms have the potential for being present. This tool was critical in 2019, during the mass shooting at Henry Pratt. Due to having multiple shields, it allowed officers the ability to clear the building safely and rescue workers hiding from the gunman. Additionally, many violent crimes are a result of narcotic related transactions where firearms and armed offenders are present, the ballistic shields provide critical protection to the officers.
DISCUSSION:
A ballistic shield has a warranty for five years from the date of manufacture. This is due to the breakdown of the material that provides the protection; our present shields have passed that threshold and are eight years old. Being a larger police agency, United Shield contacted APD and related that a custom order from a large agency was unable to be completed through to delivery ...
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