In this season of thanks and of giving, Alto Police are thankful for a potential lifesaving gift they just received.
The Georgia Fraternal Order of Police donated three ballistic vests to the Alto Police Department. The vests also come equipped with a tourniquet in case officers are shot in the limbs.
North Georgia Mountains Lodge 112 President and Georgia FOP State Lodge Trustee Michael Palmer presented the vests to Alto Police Chief Josh Ivey on Nov. 23. The vests cost around $2,000 and were donated through the Georgia FOP’s Protect the Protectors Program.
Operation Protect the Protector is designed to donate ballistic vests to law enforcement agencies across Georgia, specifically agencies with limited budgets.
“Officer safety is a very important issue to all of us in law enforcement, and the ballistic vest has been proven to save lives and reduce injuries,” says Palmer. “Every officer should wear a ballistic vest every day. The FOP is working to ensure that more officers within our state have this extra level of security.”
In small departments with limited funds, vests often are not issued as standard gear, but rather, must be purchased by the officers themselves, Palmer explains. This can be very costly, as vests generally run in the hundreds of dollars and must be replaced every few years.
Palmer, a retired police officer, recalls purchasing his own vest when he started on the force in 1976. He says it’s special to him to be able to “present these vests to officers that I have worked with over the years.”
North Georgia Mountains Lodge 112 has also ordered vests for police departments in Demorest and Dillard. The vests are paid for through donations made to the Georgia FOP Foundation.
Donations to the Foundation may be made by mail or online, but Palmer cautions, don’t ever donate to FOP over the phone. “We do not do phone solicitation,” he stresses. “FOP in Georgia does not do telemarketing at all.”
The Georgia FOP represents more than 5,265 law enforcement members across the state. To date, the organization has donated 949 ballistic vests to 163 agencies in Georgia. As the most recent recipient, Chief Ivey says he is grateful. “We hope we never need them, but if we do, we have them,”
