New York to equip all patrol officers with helmets

All uniformed New York police on patrol will be equipped with ballistic helmets under a $7.5 million spending drive fueled by recent terror attacks and shootings, the department said. The plan will see 20,000 ballistic helmets given to all uniformed patrol officers and 6,000 heavy ballistic vests distributed among 3,000 patrol vehicles between this summer and January 2017. The roll-out is designed to make officers safer in responding to an active shooter situation, officials said. US police have been targeted in a string of recent attacks that saw five officers shot dead in Dallas on July 7, three killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 17 and most recently, reportedly saw a pair of officers come under fire in Kansas City, Missouri overnight. "In the wake of Dallas, Baton Rouge and Kansas City, we need to make smart investments to keep our officers safe in return," said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. "Now, more than ever, society is asking its police officers to go into harm's way and to face grave danger," police chief Bill Bratton said. New York has the largest city force in the United States with around 34,500 uniformed officers safeguarding a population of 8.4 million. For the last two years police departments across the United States have come under stinging criticism over the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of officers. Two New York officers were shot dead in their patrol car in December 2014 by a gunman claiming to be avenging the deaths of African Americans at the hands of police.