Bulletproof Vests Issued To Auxiliary Officers
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
More than 1,800 of New York City’s volunteer police force have been issued new bulletproof vests.
The city had promised the vests after two auxiliary officers, Nicholas Pekearo and Eugene Marshalik, were fatally shot by a gunman last March.
The vests, each costing $560, were designed specifically for the department. About 1,380 “loner vests” are available at police station houses for auxiliary officers to share.
There are about 4,500 members of the auxiliary force — volunteers who dress like full-time police officers but are not armed.
Marshalik’s mother, Maya, says the vests are “nice” but insists it is too dangerous for auxiliary police to patrol the streets, even with them.
