Hand-me-downs can be fine acquisitions sometimes, but maybe not when one’s life depends on them.
And by that yardstick, Gould’s unanimous approval to spend $4,000 on new safety equipment for its Police Department was money well spent.
At the Gould City Council meeting, the city’s police chief, Kenneth Tillman laid it all out there, giving an impassioned plea for the city to spend money on buying new bullet-resistant vests.
Tillman’s department has vests now, but they came used from other departments. Consequently, the officers aren’t quite sure that their vests will do what they are — or were — intended to do.
“We’ve been having old vests for a long time,” Tillman told the council members. “We’ve had a lot of stuff happening with officers. I think we need to get them some brand new vests. We’ve always had old vests, and I’m not sure they would stop a bullet.”
Tillman said most of the used vests come out of Pine Bluff or from a surplus supply, but that with what his officers go through, having those old items is not very comforting.
“…But the way things are happening now, we don’t really want to get them like that now,” he said. “They’re making traffic stops, going into houses with guns, and it will make them move a little slow, you know, if you don’t feel like you’re protected.”
And who could blame Tillman, considering what happened just last week in Pine Bluff. During a tragic incident that still has Pine Bluff reeling, three officers were out on an investigation and got into a shootout with a suspect. One of the officers, Kevin Collins, was killed. Another one was struck by gunfire in the shoulder and is recovering. And a third officer took a bullet but his vest repelled it.
One only has to let that thought sink in to want to rush to get these officers vests that they can feel 100% sure will do the job.
And that is exactly how Gould officials reacted when Tillman made his request.
“They need protection so we need to get them,” said Council Member Patricia Stephens.
“I agree,” said City Attorney Clint Todd. “It’s much better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.”
At this week’s Jefferson County Quorum Court meeting, the discussion turned to the fact that the sheriff’s office had donated a couple of old cruisers to the Gould Police Department within the past two years. That type of used-equipment hand-off makes better sense as a department can decide when it’s time to get rid of the old vehicles, and no one is worse for the wear.
But when the officers get out of those old cruisers, there shouldn’t be any second-guessing about what is and isn’t reliable when it comes to keeping police officers safe.
Good move, Gould.