Estes AWS works to provide secure, accessible and rapidly responsive automotive weapon lockers that are built to protect law enforcement and communities. Safe weapon storage is fundamental for law enforcement, and Estes AWS works to protect both law enforcement and communities through our Rapid Access Weapon Lockers and accessories.
It is no secret that law enforcement personnel and their vehicles are targeted regularly in today’s society. Although secure weapon storage is an added expense that may not be a high priority for some departments, going with the cheapest, low-security option or having no weapon security solution at all is an avoidable mistake. Below is just a small sample of the occurrences of theft from police vehicles in the U.S. that happen all too often:
- Minors in Jacksonville, Florida smashed in a window of a St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office patrol car and popped open the trunk stealing an AR-15 rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a silencer, and body armor (News4Jax)
- Connecticut man shot and killed found with a shotgun stolen from police (KTBS TV)
- Man arrested for stealing equipment and weapons belonging to LMPD, including body armor, tasers, a shotgun, a 40mm launcher, riot control explosives, and police radios in Louisville, Kentucky (WDRB)
- An AR-15-style rifle, along with a 30 round magazine was stolen from a Jones County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle (The Union Recorder)
- Man broke into an Atlanta police officer’s personal vehicle and got away with an AR-15 with an APD emblem, three magazines for the rifle — each with 30-round capacity, a handgun, a police vest, a gas mask, and a riot helmet (Fox 5 Atlanta)
Protecting Law Enforcement through Rapid Access
In a career where every second matters, quick access to weapons can mean the difference between life or death for a law enforcement officer. However, many in-vehicle weapon storage options available to police officers are either located or installed in such a way that makes quick and easy weapon retrieval a challenge. Even most rear cargo area products on the market require the use of a manual key or entry of a combination to access weapons and other tactical gear. In a critical situation, these few seconds could make all the difference.
Estes AWS Rapid Access Weapon Lockers feature rapid-access opening technology to protect the lives of law enforcement officers. Our Weapon Lockers open electronically, with a push of a button on either a wireless remote or panic button and there are no combinations to remember. It features the least time to deployment of any trunk or rear cargo area product in the industry, which immediately presents officers’ weapons to them by the time they arrive to the rear of their vehicle. When under duress, there is no need to search for a key, remember a combination, or open a complicated multi-pin lock. Using the remote fob, an officer’s weapons are ready at the push of a button. If you are concerned about your quick-access key fob getting lost or stolen, you can simply go into the receiver and clear all the codes which would render the lost or stolen fob useless. A new fob can then be reprogrammed to the same receiver.
Protecting Communities through Secure Design
No police department wants one of their guns to be stolen and potentially used in a crime in the very community they are working to protect. With weapons being stolen from patrol vehicles, even while at the officers’ residences, it is obvious that no matter where a marked police vehicle may be, it will still be a target for criminals who hope to gain easy access to a firearm. An article by the Louisville Courier Journal revealed that last year Louisville saw increased numbers of children wounded by gunfire over the previous year and stated that of the over 1,100 guns stolen from vehicles across Louisville from 2014 to 2019, at least seven were stolen from police vehicles.
Far too often the weapons that are stolen either have no form of security or very minimal security inside the vehicle to prevent them from being easily removed. Relying on locked vehicle doors alone to provide weapon security is too high a risk for officers and the communities they strive to keep safe and free of crime, as is evidenced by the handgun stolen from a DeKalb County officer’s vehicle. The thief was able to remove the entire passenger side window and snatch the weapon in less than 45 seconds.
Estes AWS Weapon Lockers are highly secure and a huge deterrent to weapon theft. Estes Lockers are mounted in the rear of a vehicle, strategically installed to keep weapons out of sight and out of mind for criminals. Constructed from powder coated steel and designed with heavy-duty, locking rotary latches, our lockers not only provide total concealment of your weapons but also provide security that is far beyond that of many competitors’ products. “Smash and grabs” are all too common for criminals looking to score an officer’s weapon, but Estes AWS provides the perfect solution to prevent these types of thefts. In a world where protecting your communities becomes more difficult every day, keeping your weapons safe with our secure weapon storage is one of the easiest steps you can take.
Choose Estes AWS, a weapon security solution designed with officers and communities in mind.
Not only do the security features of Estes AWS Weapon Lockers benefit officers, but the community as well, and by keeping guns secure and out of sight, officers’ weapons are kept out of the hands of criminals. Contact us to find out how you can keep your officers and community protected with Estes AWS solutions.