ANANDA SHOREY, The Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona’s attorney general is demanding refunds or free replacements for bulletproof vests that can lose strength over time.
Attorney General Terry Goddard said Thursday that he contacted the manufacturer, Second Chance Body Armor Inc., earlier this week about the vests that at least 1,000 officers throughout the state wear. He didn’t receive a response.
“The level of outrage is very, very high. It is extreme,” said Andy Swann, president of the Arizona Police Association, which represents more than half of the state’s roughly 12,000 officers.
Second Chance officials said in September that they had seen a decrease in the strength of the fiber in two of the company’s vest models.
The Michigan-based company disclosed the potential problem following incidents in which the vests failed, including the wounding of a Pennsylvania officer in June. Second Chance stopped selling the vests in September.
“We are attempting to do the right thing with this,” said company spokesman Gregg Smith. “We are the only company that has gone public with the Zylon issue.”
Tests by Toyobo, a Japanese company that makes Zylon, a synthetic fiber used in the vests, showed it can lose 15 percent of its strength when exposed to 104 degree heat and 80 percent humidity for 150 days.
Officers in Arizona can face such conditions almost daily during certain parts of the year. Between May and September, there were 86 days where the temperature reached at least 104 degrees in Phoenix.
“This raises very serious and very specific concerns for officers in Arizona,” Goddard said.
Officers here also use other types of vests, but the majority use the Zylon-based ones because they are light and comfortable.
The company has said officers can get free upgrades or they can purchase a new, different vest at a discount.
The vests range from about $450 to $1,000. Some agencies in Arizona pay for the vests, but many officers have to pay for them themselves.
Goddard said that offer is not adequate.
“Lives are literally on the line,” Swann added. “Money has to take a back seat.”
A class-action suit against Second Chance has already been filed on behalf of Georgia police officers. And the Massachusetts attorney general filed a lawsuit seeking to stop sale of Zylon-based vests there.
Other states have launched investigations into the vests.
Questions about Zylon have also sparked a federal review of the reliability of police body armor.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said this week that the review is intended to ensure the reliability of bullet-resistant vests.