A few days before my father died suddenly at home of a heart attack, he was involved in a shootout. He was a homicide detective in an unmarked car slowly crossing some rough railroad tracks. He was on duty and at 4 a.m. Two thugs tried a carjacking attempt. They did not get he was an undercover cop wearing a suit. Dad came out with his gun and shots were fired. Both suspects ran into the darkness. You can imagine the surprise when he came out pointing a 38 revolver. According to recent news reports, a rising number of police officers are required to wear body armor after 2010 and 2011 when a rising number of them were being killed by gunfire. If you don’t think there is a problem out there for those that protect and serve get this - 92% of law enforcement agencies now have a body armor policy in place up from 59% in 2009. The federal government has forced the issue stating local police risked losing millions of dollars from the feds if body armor did not become mandatory. There is good news. Through November 2012, compared to last year, firearm deaths of police officers are down 34%. Complaints from officers come from southern cities due to heat and humidity to wear the vests all day. The cops have been known to keep them in the trunks of the vehicles. All that changed in Houston, however, when an officer in 2007 was shot and saved by the bullet proof vest. Most officers now think differently. Look, this country has a lot of public service problems but taking care of our police officers is at the top of the list. As my Dad used to say, nobody likes cops until you need one.Police Body Armor