Police in Bay State to share more than $1m for faulty vests
Police departments in Massachusetts that purchased a popular bulletproof vest that was potentially defective will share more than $1 million in restitution from a Japanese company that makes Zylon, the material used in the vests.
Thomas F. Reilly -- who in 2003 became the first state attorney general to file a lawsuit against Toyobo Co. and the vests' manufacturer,
``Our hard-working police officers simply cannot be on the streets with defective bullet proof vests," Reilly said in a statement. ``This money will help ensure that all law enforcement officers are protected by safer and more effective equipment."
About 65 other communities will receive refunds in the first round of settlement distribution, including Revere, Weymouth, Taunton, Pittsfield, Burlington, Natick, and Dedham.
The payouts are part of a $29 million class action settlement between Toyobo and American users of Second Chance vests that contain the synthetic fiber Zylon. Last August, after a two-year study, the US Department of Justice announced that because bullets could penetrate used Zylon vests, it would no longer certify body armor made with Zylon unless a manufacturer could prove its vests would last throughout the warranty period.
Second Chance's Zylon vests became popular in the late 1990s, because they were lighter and more comfortable than those made with alternative materials such as Kevlar. But the vests turned out to degrade more rapidly than their five-year warranty promised. The Justice Department study found that of 103 used Second Chance vests tested, bullets penetrated almost 60 percent at least once in a six-shot series.
As the sole manufacturer of Zylon vests between 1998 and 2001, Second Chance, based in Michigan, sold about 5,000 vests to local police departments in Massachusetts, said Rosemary Connolly , chief of the trial division at the attorney general's office, in a phone interview yesterday.
Other body armor companies eventually began using Zylon to make vests, she said, but Second Chance was ``by far" the largest purveyor in the state.
Communities and police officers who submitted claims as class action members by last year -- the deadline for the first round of refunds -- have received $970,437 in restitution for 1,366 defective vests, the attorney general's office said. Under the settlement, for each Second Chance vest purchased, they will receive either a $730 check or an $803 voucher for a new vest.
Vests typically cost between $650 and $1,000; the federal government usually subsidizes half the cost of each vest.
Departments that filed claims for another 1,250 vests by the second deadline July 1 will receive a smaller amount this summer; the amount will be determined by how many other class -action members submit claims against the remaining money in the settlement fund. Communities that applied in the second round include Medford, Waltham, Hingham, North Attleboro, and Amherst.
Frank Pasquarello , public information officer for the Cambridge Police Department, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the settlement came as a great relief. ``When they first got these vests, they were lightweight, they were easy to wear, they were comfortable," he said. ``But when officers found out that they had a defect about them and would possibly not protect them when they were shot, officers were very apprehensive and very concerned for their safety."
When media reports of the vests' deficiency multiplied, he added, ``it put the level of fear higher, knowing that people on the street knew they were wearing defective vests."
Questions about the vests' safety arose in 2003 , after a California officer was killed and a Pennsylvania officer was seriously wounded when bullets penetrated their Second Chance vests. In the fall of that year, Second Chance recalled vests made almost entirely of Zylon, saying that the vests ``may wear out faster than expected."
Law enforcement officials in Massachusetts brought their concerns to Reilly, who filed a lawsuit against Second Chance and Toyobo, Connolly said. After Second Chance declared bankruptcy in 2004 , Massachusetts and other states negotiated the settlement with Toyobo. Reilly is still pursuing a $1.8 million claim against Second Chance in federal bankruptcy court.
While Toyobo could not be reached for comment, they said a year ago when the settlement was reached that they stood by their product .
Connolly said the case was a wake-up call for a better certification process.
``The process that the National Institute for Justice has in place needs to be a two-step process," she said. ``The first step is when the vest is brand new, to make sure it meets certain criteria, and the second is to make sure it will continue to meet the criteria for the lifespan of the vest."
