Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was in Dallas Tuesday to announce grant funding that will provide rifle-resistant vests for nearly 33,000 Texas police officers.
Abbott announced the $23 million grant at the Dallas Police Association, though the vests will be handed out statewide.
Some of the larger departments in the state, such as Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and the Harris County Sheriff's Department, will receive thousands of vests worth millions of dollars. See a full list of agencies and the number of vests received below.
The governor signed SB 12 during the 85th Legislative Session, authored by Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) and Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford), which created funding for the grant program to provide personal body armor to law enforcement agencies throughout Texas.
"My top priority as governor is to keep our communities safe, and I thank the law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line everyday to make that possible," said Abbott. "The job of our law enforcement community is becoming more difficult as the threats our officers face continue to increase. The State of Texas will not sit idly by and tolerate these actions against officers who are simply doing their job to uphold the law and protect the people of Texas. That is why I’m proud to present these grants to Police Department’s across Texas so they can equip their officers with the life-saving equipment they deserve."
The grants will provide law enforcement officers from 453 different jurisdictions around the state with a total of 32,842 rifle-resistant vests designed to protect against high caliber rounds.
