At Tactical Sh*t we sold over 300 plate carriers and level III body armor kits to local law enforcement in the weeks leading up to the Ferguson grand jury decision. Many people ask, who paid for all that armor? The answer is the cops or their families. Some were eventually reimbursed but most were not. Officers are issued Level IIIA which will stop up to 44 Magnum, but not rifle plates. During the three months they had to prepare, it was uncovered by the F.B.I. that the Black Panthers had acquired a large quantity of 7.62×39 ammunition and was “passing it out” and encouraging “war with the police”. With this information, officers did everything they could to prepare. Many kits were purchased by mothers and worried wives.
Then just 2 days before the decision, St. Louis County Police put out a interdepartmental memo (order) that said; if you plan to carry or wear body armor, it MUST be Brown or Black, it must have POLICE on the front AND back in White, it must have your NAMETAG and a NIJ Certification MUST be provided up the chain of command. Three months of planning and this order comes just days before the decision. It is our opinion and that of many St. Louis County PD Officers that the order was delayed in order to reduce the amount of officers in Ferguson that looked “militarized”.
Missouri National Guard Units were told before leaving muster to leave their “hard armor plates” behind. They were advised that they would be issued new upon arrival on site in Ferguson at the Command Center. Much to their chagrin, they were never issued hard armor. Missouri National Guard Troops in Ferguson were not wearing Hard Armor, the were given black Second Chance Level IIIA armor to wear under their level 2A jackets. According to a National Guard Member we spoke to about this, some wore their own plates.
In one anonymous Commanding St. Louis County Officers own words: ” It was great that no officers got hurt, but it is because we didn’t do a fucking thing. We were not prepared and taking too much fire from all directions. Most cops just stayed low and behind vehicles.”
Editorial:
Others figure the reason the National Guard were not issued plates since they were never planning on having them in Ferguson for the first night anyway and that the powers that be wanted the town to burn in order to get federal funding for the City.