WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — New York City will spend $7.3 million on new bullet proof vests for the city’s police department this year, and add an additional $4.2 million in 2016, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during his preliminary 2016 budget address.
“We are investing in vests for the men and women in the NYPD [New York Police Department]: spending $7.3 million in this fiscal year, and then adding $4.2 million next fiscal year,” de Blasio said on Monday.
De Blasio said that since 1978, bullet proof vests have saved the lives of 87 NYPD officers. “So this is a tremendously important investment.”
NYPD officer safety has come into focus following the killing of officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos in December. The two officers were killed following protests across the United States against police brutality, fuelled by grand jury decisions not to indict law enforcement officers responsible for the deaths of unarmed citizens, Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
In January, New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton announced that NYPD will establish a new anti-terror unit, dubbed the Strategic Response Group, to deal with protests and terrorist threats.
