The Cortez and Durango police departments are donating surplus ballistic helmets and bulletproof vests to Ukraine to help their fight in the war against Russia.
On Friday, the Cortez Police Department donated 18 ballistic helmets and a 12 flak jackets to the Ukrainian people, said Patrol Lt. Rex Brinkerhoff.
The older gear had been in storage after equipment was upgraded.
“We were not using it, the chief and everybody thought it would be a good idea to give it to someone who needed it,” Brinkerhoff said.
“They are good steel helmets,” said Detective Tom Quinnett. “It’s a good thing (sending them to Ukraine). Whatever we can do to help.”
Brinkerhoff said it was added to a shipment of police gear donated from the Durango Police Department.
Durango Police Chief Bob Brammer said when they got the call from state agencies to donate gear they checked the inventory and identified older equipment they could spare. His department donated ballistic helmets, flack jackets, concealable body armor, bulletproof vests and SWAT vests.
“The primary effort of law enforcement is to help people in need regardless of where they are,” he said.
Assistant Cortez Police Chief Andy Brock said onMarch 11 a Durango officer on the way to drop off the gear at an Armory in Grand Junction stopped by the Cortez station to collect the local police gear donations.
“It was a big pile of equipment. We were told it shipped out Monday to Ukraine, so it got there fast,” Brock said. “There is a need for help, and we had the extra equipment. Everybody feels good about it.”
Montezuma County and La Plata County sheriff’s offices said they could not spare any gear, but both added they would have if they could.
Colorado has collected almost 1,300 ballistic helmets and almost 1,300 complete sets of surplus body armor from local law enforcement agencies to send to Ukraine, according to Colorado Newsline.
“We are doing everything we can to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom, and this surplus body armor is urgently needed to help save lives, stop Putin’s ruthless aggression and save Ukraine,” Gov. Jared Polis said Monday in a news release.
Colorado Newsline reported the donations come less than a week after Polis announced that his administration – through the Colorado Department of Public Safety and the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs – asked local law enforcement agencies to donate excess equipment to be sent to Ukraine.
The equipment was donated from more than 25 local law enforcement agencies, Polis said. There were over 240 law enforcement agencies in the state as of 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Donations were accepted from law enforcement agencies and not from the general public to ensure that all equipment meets safety standards, Colorado Newline reported.
The Colorado Department of Public Safety was the largest single donor of equipment as of Monday, department spokeswoman Patricia Billinger told Colorado Newsline. The department donated more than 750 helmets and 83 sets of body armor. Colorado Springs, which donated eight helmets and 194 sets of body armor, was the next largest donor, she said.
“The Ukrainian people are fighting for the survival of their sovereign nation,” Polis wrote in a letter to law enforcement agencies. “We have an opportunity to help save lives in this battle for democracy.”
Julia Fennell of Colorado Newsline contributed to this article.
