Washington D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is working to ensure women in law enforcement have properly fitting body armor to keep them safe.
Sen. Ossoff is co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to provide female law enforcement officers within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with improved ballistic body armor.
The bipartisan DHS Better Ballistic Body Armor Act, which Sen. Ossoff cosponsored alongside Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Mike Rounds (R-SD), passed the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with bipartisan support and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
According to the Criminal Justice Technology Testing and Evaluation Center, more than 60 percent of female law enforcement officers reported their body armor does not fit properly, and report that it causes pain, abrasions, and other discomforts.
“Ill fitting body armor threatens the health and safety of law enforcement agents. I continue leading my effort to ensure female military servicemembers have well fitting body armor, and I am now working to equip female law enforcement officers with the same,” Sen. Ossoff said.
Sen. Ossoff’s new push to upgrade Federal law enforcement body armor comes as he continues working to upgrade female body armor for U.S. servicemembers as well.
In 2022, Sens. Ossoff, Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) successfully secured a bipartisan provision in the national defense bill to help ensure that women in the military have quality and proper-fitting gear, which came after he met with servicemembers directly and heard about ill-fitting chest plates and other body armor.
Click here to read the DHS Better Ballistic Body Armor Act.
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