Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officers from the Akron Police Department (APD) have allegedly been using counterfeit body armor imported from China, which is a serious problem since they frequently rely on that gear to save their lives.
"We became a part of a bigger investigation. We were notified by the Department of Homeland Security that the plates that we had were some of those plates that were found to be counterfeit and so as a result of that, we need to replace them," APD Captain Agostino Micozzi told the Akron City Council during a discussion about the issue.
APD has requested the city to immediately help them purchase 40 new sets of protective shields for the SWAT team.
A Homeland Security Department press release issued October 19, 2023, confirmed that they were investigating counterfeit body armor that was imported from China and sold to law enforcement agencies across America. (Related: DHS helping fund militarization of local police departments.)
A report from News 5 Cleveland in November last year warned people to discontinue using certain body armor products purchased from the same shop in Cleveland that the APD purchased its body armor from "for product safety reasons."
The questionable body armor also does not meet the standard put forth by the National Institute of Justice, the research, development and evaluation arm of the Department of Justice.
Micozzi requested on May 6 for an allocation from the town's city council to have the counterfeit plates replaced.
"They are a hard ceramic type of plate, and there's one on the front, one on the back and one on each side. To protect them from rifle rounds and more dangerous things, so those are the things that we are replacing with this request," Micozzi said.
"When you're on the SWAT team and you're doing high-risk response situations it's extremely important that you have the best equipment, and the equipment that has no chance of failure," said Tim Dimoff, a national law enforcement procedures and security expert.
According to law enforcement experts, anything less than high-quality equipment could very well leave officers almost defenseless.
"Equipment can be made in other parts of the United States, but mostly overseas it's being made because someone is trying to reduce the cost of that equipment but in favor of a higher probability of not meeting our standards," Dimoff added.
Each set of plates is worth $1,300 and 40 sets are needed to outfit the whole SWAT team. The total expense to replace the counterfeit gear is $52,000. The Akron City Council unanimously endorsed the immediate request. It passed an ordinance under emergency to replace the questionable body armor immediately for $60,000.
APD said it is cooperating with the continuing federal investigation.
Fraudsters selling counterfeit China-made body armor NOT a new case
This is not the first time that a local company has sold counterfeit body armor made in China.
In 2021, Tanner Jackson, 32, of Top Body Armor pleaded guilty to selling "Chinese-made military helmets, body armor and other products" to the State Department and other federal agencies while passing them off as U.S.-made gear. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime but pleaded his way down to a lesser wire fraud charge and was convicted to 33 months in prison.
In March, Jeffrey Meining, 42, owner of BulletProof-IT, was found guilty of "knowingly and intentionally marketing and selling low-quality ballistic protective equipment produced in China to dozens of domestic law enforcement agencies and the U.S. military."
Meining claimed his gear, along with ballistic helmets, shields and plates, were manufactured in America. But in reality, they were bought from a Chinese corporation.
Some of those supplies go as far back as December 2017. Meining also pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was given a sentence of 12 months and one day in federal prison and a supervised release of three years.
Read more news about the police force in the United States at PoliceState.news.
Watch this episode of the Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, interviews Lyman Bishop on why acquiring body armor is essential for those who want to protect themselves against the coming chaos.
This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.
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More and more Americans are bulletproofing their cars as crime and lawlessness worsen.
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