Great Barrington — The town’s Police Department has obtained multiple Vector Personal Protective Barrier shields to assist with its law enforcement. According to Chief Paul Storti, the department purchased 10 shields for $26,000, which was approved at the annual town meeting.
Storti told The Berkshire Edge that the shields, which are portable and made out of metal, were purchased from Vector Protective Barrier company in Boston. “Previously, we had several swatting calls that we had to respond to at the schools,” Storti said. “The officers went in and we had some of those large, big shields to protect us. We discovered in a debriefing that some of our officers were responding to calls without any protective equipment. Purchasing these shields is another tool to help ensure the safety of officers responding to these types of calls.”
Storti said that the department purchased enough shields for each of the department’s cars. “The nice thing about this is that the shields are all portable,” Storti said. “You can sling it over your shoulder and it’s not like those big 40-pound, heavy-duty barrier shields.”…