It may look like any other vest, but that alone saved a Syracuse Police officer's life. "The bullet embedded itself in the vest, and the vest went into the officer's body, and the only thing that stopped this officer from being killed was that vest," said Syracuse Police Chief Gary Miguel.
James Tyson was carrying a .357 magnum with 6 rounds in the cylinder when two officers stopped him Monday night. When police later found the weapon at crime scene, all six have been shot, leaving one officer with gunshot wounds in his shoulder and back, and another with a lacerated eardrum that resulted from the gun being shot in close proximity to his ear. Through the years, Chief Miguel has watched the job of police officers change and the sheer mentality of violence change even more. "This job is a dangerous job, probably more dangerous than it has ever been, and we have seen this across the country," said Miguel.
"It's one of the toughest things you can go through as a police officer," said Phoenix Police Chief Rod Carr. "Nobody wants to go to a funeral and I've been to far too many."
Carr was a long time member of the Syracuse Police force. He can vividly remember the day his colleague, Officer Wally Howard was shot and killed in the line of duty nearly 20 years ago. When he joined the Syracuse Police Department in 1972, it was rare to even hear of an officer being shot. He says bulletproof vests were not widely used until the early 80s because they were too bulky and heavy, but now, they're crucial. "If you're hit with a vest on, it's going to cause damage, no question about it, but it's survivable," said Carr.
While most police departments are wary of revealing too much information about just how this life-saving equipment works, countless officers owe their lives these flimsy kevlar vests. Thanks to his vest, the officer involved in Monday night's shooting was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon.
