Closing a safety gap for the 20% of Kentucky law enforcement who do not have a body armor vest or whose armor is expired, is the priority of the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office’s new body armor grant program.

Richard Ferretti, Commissioner for the Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI), testified before the Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government, Finance, Personnel, and Public Retirement on Wednesday with an update on how the newly rolled out grant program is working.

Ferretti said they are receiving applications and working to clear the backlog of officers without proper ballistic equipment. In the program, Ferretti said the vest follows the officer and not the agency. He also said for officers to qualify their agency must have a mandatory wear policy for the ballistic vest.

The Attorney General’s Office is accepting applications for officers with no vest, expired vests (every 5 years), or vests that expire before the end of the calendar year via their website.

After applications are reviewed by DCI and approved, officers are measured for the correct vest fit, and then orders are placed, and ballistic vests are in hand within 60 days.

Once body armor vests are in place, other items can be purchased using the $15 million two-year body armor grant program in purchasing ballistic helmets, shields, duty weapons, ammunition, electronic control devices, and body-worn cameras.

Ferretti said it costs about $2,000 per officer for proper body armor vests.