Taking a Vested Interest in Stopping Bullets and More : Armor: Inquiries and sales of bullet-resistant vests are up following the fatal shooting of Garden Grove officer.

They have been known to protect against everything from a lightning bolt to a kicking bull’s hoof, but the main purpose of soft body armor is thwarting a bullet’s deadly path.

Law enforcement officials estimate that since the early 1970s, more than 1,500 lives have been saved by bullet-resistant vests. Yet the armor does not always provide enough protection in an increasingly violent world, as last week’s fatal shooting of Garden Grove Police Officer Howard E. Dallies Jr. proved again.

The officer’s vest shielded him against one round fired by a motorcyclist during a routine traffic stop, but couldn’t stop another bullet that entered beneath his vest and tore through his abdomen.

In the wake of Dallies’ death, and the shootings of three other Southland officers, there is a renewed interest in wearing protective gear, which is commonly but erroneously believed to be bulletproof. Such equipment, experts warn, is not always literally bulletproof.

Law enforcement authorities say an increasing number of police and firefighters are inquiring about body armor, while stores selling “bulletproof” vests are reporting a boost in sales.

“I think there is a heightened awareness about the vests every time there is a shooting, and recently there has been quite a few,” said Garden Grove Police Capt. David Abrecht. His department has had five officers killed in the line of duty since 1912--more than any other law enforcement agency in Orange County.

For the Garden Grove department--one of the few local agencies to require the use of vests--the shootings reaffirm the need to wear protective gear all the time, especially with today’s criminals armed with extremely powerful, high-velocity weapons.

“This goes back to 1980, when one of our officers was killed and his vest was hanging in his locker,” Abrecht said. “After that, we mandated that all officers wear them.”

In Orange County, only officers in Garden Grove, Orange, Placentia and Tustin are required by their departments to wear the vests. All local law enforcement agencies, however, issue the gear to their officers.

Body armor is not a cure-all for the dangers on the street, but it can reduce the likelihood of fatal blows to the chest.

“We highly recommend to our officers that they wear one, and there is peer pressure applied to those who don’t,” said Fountain Valley Police Sgt. Lee Pepka. “In today’s environment, it’s not too smart to put on a badge and uniform and go out there without one.”

An average 85% to 90% of officers countywide voluntarily wear a vest, local authorities say. Officers who do not often complain that the protective equipment is too restrictive and uncomfortable. Some contend the armor is especially unbearable and causes rashes during Southern California’s hot summer months.

Most officers, however, say they believe that discomfort is not a good excuse.

“In 90-degree heat, you are going to be uncomfortable anyway,” said Buena Park Officer Phil Dascenzi. “So, you may as well be safe and uncomfortable.”

The number of officers wearing body armor varies throughout the nation. Some industry analysts estimate that only about 30% of those who have the vests actually use them all the time. Other studies indicate that as many as 72% of front-line police wear them.

Younger officers and those on the West Coast are more likely to wear the equipment, according to a 1991 survey taken by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Washington. The study also concluded that the vests can be very effective.

According to FBI statistics, only 172 of the 679 officers killed in the line of duty nationwide between 1982 and 1991 were wearing vests.

“The numbers would be much higher without the vests,” said Bernie Dryden, supervisor of the FBI’s statistical unit in Washington. “There are an enormous amount of success stories where they have saved lives.”

Vests have protected officers from stabbings, clubbings, assaults and automobile crashes. Brian Gallagher, a spokesman for Du Pont Corp., one of the manufacturers of bullet-resistant vests, said that about 35% of the “saves” occur in traffic accidents.

A current Du Pont television commercial features rows of police officers who survived shootings and stabbings, some describing how the vests saved their lives.

“Some of the saves are quite amazing,” Gallagher said.

He cited the example of a motorcycle officer who survived being struck in the chest by a drive shaft that fell off a truck on the freeway. In another case, an officer fell into a deep pit and landed on sharp objects that might have pierced his chest had he not been wearing a vest.

Body armor was first introduced to law enforcement in the early 1970s. In 1975, the National Institute of Justice purchased 5,000 vests and gave them to officers in 15 cities throughout the United States as part of a study to prove the benefits of wearing armor. During the yearlong survey period, 18 incidents of a vest saving an officer’s life were reported.

Since that time, the armor has become lighter and easily available as competing manufacturers constantly developed new designs.

The average vest worn by a patrol officer today weighs three to five pounds and costs about $300. Most are made of lightweight Kevlar, a tough synthetic material. They come in various styles and different strengths capable of protecting the wearer from small pellets to bullets from powerful semiautomatic weapons.

While many law enforcement officials say they are mainly concerned with the bullet-stopping capability of the armor, comfort and cost also are major considerations.

“The companies have been taking steps to improve the vests as far as how comfortable they are and how efficient they are at stopping bullets,” said Les Gogerty, a training officer with the Costa Mesa Police Department. “But they have to be realistic. Ideally, you would want something that would cover every vital organ but you can’t walk out in a suit of armor. That’s not practical.”

A majority of local departments buy vests from either the New York-based Point Blank Body Armor L.P. or U.S. Armor Corp. in Santa Fe Springs.

“We’re making vests lighter, thinner and more flexible but at the same time they are getting stronger,” said Stephen Armellino, president of U.S. Armor Corp. “You try and give an officer as much coverage as you can while still making him comfortable because this is something he needs to wear every day.”

Immediately after the recent spate of police shootings, the number of officers inquiring about vests have increased at least 25% at U.S. Armor Corp., its executives say.

“With all the officers getting shot, the increase has been phenomenal,” said Jay Dreyfuss, a sales representative. “We’re getting more calls and walk-in visits from officers who are looking for something that fits and is comfortable. There is a hell of a lot of tension out there.”

Representatives from Safari Land Ltd. Inc., an Ontario-based manufacturer of body armor, attribute the growing interest not only to the recent shootings, but also to the pending outcome of the Rodney G. King case in Los Angeles where four police officers are being tried on charges of violating his civil rights.

Said Roxanne Nelson, an administrative sales representative for Safari Land: “We’ve had a steady increase in business since the Los Angeles riots last spring.”