North Las Vegas: Detention officers to get safety vests

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Oct. 15, 1999 | 11:32 a.m.

North Las Vegas Detention Center officers will soon be strapping on an extra 4 pounds of weight that could help save their lives.

City Council has granted permission for the detention center to purchase 95 bullet- and puncture-resistant vests for more than $64,000. At least 40 officers at the Clark County Detention Center currently wear the same type of vests.

The appropriation stemmed from a new contract between the detention center and the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association, which requested the vests.

This is the first time officers at the North Las Vegas Detention Center have been supplied with such vests, Capt. Jean Gagnon said. It's part of a nationwide trend, he said, to outfit all types of officers with safety vests.

"Wherever you go, inmates have always been able to produce those kind of weapons," he said, referring to makeshift knives. "Knifes tend to be their weapon of choice."

The vests go through a vigorous testing process, including an ice-pick test, which assures sharp objects cannot penetrate the vest more than one-fourth of an inch. Officers will wear them all day.

Although Gagnon admits that nothing is 100 percent safe, he said the vests will add extra protection for those officers in and out of the detention center. Many of those officers patrol the outside permitter, or are on bicycle patrol.

"It's just another piece of safety equipment ... something they can wear to make their job environment a little safer," he said.

The detention officers have already been measured for the vests, which are manufactured by International Armor Inc. The vests slip over the shoulders and fasten snugly with Velcro straps on both sides. Delivery is set for two weeks.

Correction officers at the Clark County Detention Center who are in the field service division wear the vests whenever they escort inmates to and from the facility, to medical office visits, or to court.

Sgt. James Morganti from the Clark County Detention Center said officers have been wearing the vests for the last three to four years, as a safety precaution.

"It stands to reason, if we're going to be out in the public wearing a Metro uniform, we become a target just like any other officer would," he said. "We want to be protected just like any other officer."

Correction officers who work all day in the detention center are not required to wear a safety vest, but they may if they wish.

"At some point in time it could happen here," said Morganti, referring to an officer getting injured by an inmate. "But it's the officers' prerogative whether they would want to wear (a vest) all day long."