Butte Kiwanis help purchase SWAT vests

KXLF-TV, Butte, Montana
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=10505977

Members of the Butte Kiwanis Club and other organizations did their part Tuesday to keep Butte-Silver Bow and its police officers safe.    

During a special lunch, the Kiwanis Club handed over a check for $2,800 to Officer John O'Brien who is part of Butte-Silver Bow's SWAT team. O'Brien approached the Kiwanis Club in March, asking for assistance in getting new bulletproof vests for his 10-man team.

According to the club, O'Brien told Kiwanians that the department could only properly equip five SWAT officers, prompting a fundraising effort that O'Brien says may have saved his life or the live of other SWAT team members.

“They mean everything to us. It protects us. These vests will have rifle plates that will stop up to a .30-06 round, so not only does it save us, but it saves anybody we're trying to go in and help,” O'Brien said.

“The purpose of Kiwanis is to improve communities and make life better for our children. Well how can you improve your community with a police force that's not adequately equipped? And if they're running out there in a five- or six-year-old vest that's not going to stop a rifle bullet, it's only good for pistols, they're not safe and that's not helping our community,” Tim Rogers, president-elect of the Butte-Silver Bow Kiwanis, said.

The SWAT team is still in need of more helmets and future fundraisers may be in order, O'Brien said.