Clinton Administration to Seek Laws Targeting Bulletproof Vests

Taking a cue from last year’s North Hollywood bank shootout, the Clinton administration will urge federal and state laws that impose heavier prison terms on people who wear bulletproof vests while committing violent crimes.

White House officials said that Vice President Al Gore today will announce the administration’s support for such laws when he presides at a Capitol Hill memorial service for police officers slain while on duty.

Gore also will endorse legislation pending in Congress to provide funding for the purchase of body armor by state and local police forces, who increasingly are finding themselves outgunned by criminals armed with heavy-duty automatic weapons, officials said.

Last year, two bank robbers armed with assault rifles and outfitted with bulletproof vests engaged police in a bloody North Hollywood gun battle. Officers at the scene saw their pistol shots bounce off the robbers’ armor.

One suspect eventually was killed when he was shot in the head, and the other died of wounds from SWAT team members’ automatic weapons. Eleven police officers and three civilians were wounded in the shootout.

Aides said that Gore will cite the administration’s strong support for community policing, including congressionally approved funds to put 100,000 more police officers on the streets. He is also expected to say that “we need to do all we can to give America’s officers every possible advantage . . . and protect them from deadly assault weapons.”

Law enforcement officials long have been outraged that criminals often have superior firepower. That criminals also can protect themselves with body armor only adds to their anger.

Because of loopholes in laws banning sales of most assault weapons, arms purveyors are selling “copycat” versions that still are used in violent crimes, authorities say.

Referring particularly to body armor, one federal official said Thursday: “We need to ensure that there is not an even playing field when it comes to police and criminals. The bad guys must not be given any advantages.”

Some state legislatures have taken up the battle. One bill making its way through the California Assembly would make it a crime for felons to buy, own or possess bulletproof vests.

Drafted by Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles), the bill would make possession of protective vests and other forms of armor by people with criminal records punishable by up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Referring to the North Hollywood shootout, Ted Hunt of the Los Angeles Police Protective League said that “having this kind of body armor, head to toe, allowed these two men to terrorize a neighborhood for hours.”

In Washington, the National Fraternal Order of Police, which has more than 277,000 members, has endorsed federal measures to make it more difficult for criminals to obtain body armor. A bill introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a former police officer, would outlaw the mail-order sale of protective vests, allowing only face-to-face sales of body armor.

The Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would provide federal grants to help state and local police and tribal law enforcement agencies purchase body armor for their officers. Co-sponsored by Sens. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the measure would give preferential consideration to applications from areas where violent crime rates are highest.

“While we know there is no way to end the deadly risks inherent to a career in law enforcement, we must do everything possible to ensure that officers who put their lives on the line every day also put on a vest,” Gilbert G. Gallegos, president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

A similar bill won House approval earlier this week.

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Times staff writer Jonathan Peterson contributed to this story.