Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the
Department of Justice will return over $11 million from a settlement with
Toyobo Co. Ltd. and Toyobo America, Inc. (collectively Toyobo), companies that
produced the fiber used in bulletproof vests that the Department alleged were
defective, to help purchase approximately 18,700 additional bullet-resistant
vests for law enforcement officers through the Bulletproof Vest Partnership
(BVP) Program.
“Bulletproof vests are sometimes all that stands between a
police officer and death,” Attorney General Sessions said. “Having just come from this year’s Blue Mass,
I am more determined than ever to get effective vests to officers who need
them. Companies who have sold us faulty or defective vests should compensate us
so that we can get our officers the vests they need. That’s why this Department
of Justice will give these settlement funds to those who deserve them: the men
and women in blue.”
Since 2007, the body armor industry has paid the United
States more than $132 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims
Act by knowingly manufacturing and selling defective bulletproof vests
containing Zylon. The most recent and
largest recovery was from Toyobo, the company which manufactured the Zylon fiber
and promoted its use as a ballistic material, which paid $66 million to resolve
its potential liability. The United
States is proceeding against the two remaining participants in the fraudulent
Zylon scheme: Richard C. Davis, the former President of Second Chance Body
Armor, Inc., and Honeywell International, Inc.
Mr. Davis’ trial is scheduled for June 2018.
The BVP Program, administered by the Office of Justice
Programs' (OJP) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), protects the lives of law
enforcement officers by helping state, local, and tribal governments equip
their law enforcement officers with bullet-resistant vests. Since 1999, over
13,100 jurisdictions have participated in the BVP Program, with more than
$447.7 million in federal funds used to support the purchase of more than
1,294,000 vests.
BVP funding covers 50 percent of total vest costs for rural
law enforcement agencies with community populations of fewer than 100,000
residents. For larger jurisdictions, the program provides up to 50 percent of
funding, depending on the annual appropriation from Congress and the amount of
funds requested by the rural jurisdictions that apply.
“Marketing faulty protective gear to law enforcement
officers who put themselves in the line of fire is an unconscionable act and a
betrayal of trust” said BJA Director Jon Adler.
“This settlement and the Attorney General’s laudable decision to
allocate these funds to the BVP program represent the Justice Department’s
strong commitment to officer safety. Our
unwavering priority is to protect our officers as they keep our communities
safe.”
BVP funds may be used to purchase only vests that meet the
minimum performance standards established by OJP's National Institute of
Justice (NIJ) Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor Standard. The NIJ Standard,
updated in July 2008, establishes minimum performance requirements and test
methods for the ballistic resistance of personal body armor designed to protect
the torso against gunfire.
According to the International Association of Chiefs of
Police/DuPont Kevlar Survivors' Club, since 1987, there have been over 3,000
recorded cases where individuals working in law enforcement have survived both
ballistic and non-ballistic incidents because they were wearing body armor.
In 2010, the Department of Justice returned to the BVP
Program $11 million from earlier settlements with other participants involved
in the manufacture and sale of Zylon vests.
Today’s payment brings the total returned to the BVP Program to more
than $22 million, and ensures that the BVP Program has been fully compensated
for its losses in supporting law enforcement agencies’ purchases of allegedly
defective Zylon vests.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment