Body armor, bullet proof or bullet resistant?

I have realized over time that a lot of people think cops wear "bullet proof" vests. I had someone ask me a while back after a law enforcement officer had been shot and killed why he was not wearing his vest? Because if he was, he most certainly would have survived, right?

We have all seen the movies where a cop gets shot, falls down and then pulls open their shirt to reveal a ballistic vest with the bullet smashed in the front of the vest like it hit a wall of steel. Most of the time, they pull the bullet out of the vest with their fingers, and then they jump back up and continue chasing down the perpetrator. I wish this was how it works in real life, but it is not.

People have always used some type of armor during battle. The first records we have indicate that leather was the first type of body armor used by warriors, and wooden shields were slowly replaced by metal, and then metal also replaced the leather body armor.

We have all seen the shining armor of the knights from the medieval days and for a long period of time it worked very well. But when swords, arrows, and spears began to be replaced by the firearms, metal armor became obsolete.

The armor used by law enforcement today is referred to as "soft body armor." The first records of soft body armor being used were in Japan where they used silk. It was from that knowledge that soft body armor was first explored in the United States by the U.S. Military but also attracted congressional attention with the assassination of President William McKinley.

Armor made from silk, however, was not very effective with some of the new firearms coming out at the time. It was also very expensive to produce, and so it drove inventors to look to other ways of producing something that could protect someone from a gunshot wound.

It was not until 1931 that body armor first started being produced specifically for law enforcement, but the quality was still lacking to provide the protection they needed.

In the 1970s, DuPont developed what is called Kevlar ballistic fabric. It was actually intended to replace the steel belting in vehicle tires, but quickly became the new way of making soft body armor for the modern day police officer.

The challenge, then, was to develop something that could be effective but still soft and flexible enough to wear under a uniform shirt and have full range of motion.

Over the years the quality has improved and continues to improve, but what many people do not know is that soft body armor is not "bullet proof," it is "bullet resistant."

Years ago during a qualification test, we placed a ballistic vest panel over a 2-liter bottle of pop that was not opened. We fired a .40 caliber round at the panel to show the officers what would happen so there was not a false sense of protection when they went on duty with their vests.

The bullet struck the "bullet proof" vest, and the pop bottle behind it exploded. The vest, made of fibers, redirects the bullet and helps keep it from going through the body, but the impact still has a large effect on the body.

It is not uncommon for gunshot wounds to still be fatal when striking a vest because the impact causes organ damage and internal bleeding. It is a last resort to try and save a life when an officer is shot, but it is not, and was not intended to, make the officer bullet proof.

Deputies wear vests because they are the safest things available to use. But when firearms are involved, deputies will not be running towards the danger because they are bullet proof, it is because they are brave, and they are willing to risk it all for the ones we protect and serve.