Detroit firefighters and emergency technicians are being fitted for body armor, although union officials say the ballistic vests that were purchased last month aren’t right for the job because they don’t protect against stabbings.
Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones told The Detroit News in May he had secured funding to outfit his employees with the protective gear. Jones said he submitted a budget that included a $500,000 outlay for the vests, which was approved by the City Council and Mayor Mike Duggan.
Jones said employees are being fitted for Level II ballistic vests that protect against gunfire, and that the department will be outfitted with them within 60 to 90 days.
But Mike Nevin, president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association union, said the vests, purchased from Kentucky-based public safety equipment-maker Galls LLC, don’t address the chief danger for firefighters and EMTs in Detroit, which he said are stabbings.