Santa Clara County Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (SERT) -
Ballistic Protection Needs

 

The mission of the Sheriff s Emergency Response Team (SERT) is the containment, control, and de-escalation of hostile situations that are beyond the response capabilities of most individual deputies and warrant a coordinated team approach. These situations include protection details, barricade suspects, hostage situations, high risk arrests / warrants, high risk surveillance, high risk searches, anti-sniper operations, and mutual aid assistance. These situations are inherently dangerous, and require every effort to maximize the safety and protection of the team members.

With a national trend toward increasingly violent encounters between suspects and tactical teams, the national standard for safety equipment has risen. When tactical teams are engaged, they are typically responding to one or more suspects that have a history of drug use and violence, resisting officers, and are reasonably believed to be armed. It can not be assumed that the maximum potential of a suspects' firepower will be a handgun, and in fact, the most devastating case examples have been incidents in which the suspect is armed with a rifle. The national trend reflects this. Therefore, increasing numbers of tactical teams have gone to plate armour.

The military has long used these types of ballistic protection. With advances in technology, the plate armours of today are lighter while providing more ballistic protection. Some of the armours (NIJ level III stand alone plate armour) offer protection from up to ten strikes from an AK-47 round (7.62 x 39). Currently, SERT members are issued tactical vests that correspond to the US Department of Justices' National Institute of Justice (NIJ) level IIIA. NIJ level IIIA is capable of stopping most handgun rounds up to and including a .44 magnum, but not rifle rounds.

Associated with this is the need for greater hearing protection. Pain occurs at 125 decibels (dB), and acute exposure to levels over 140 dB can cause irreversible damage. The primary weapon for SERT personnel is a rifle round, either a .223, a .308, or one of several different shotgun rounds. These rounds produce 150-160 decibels of sound on a logarithmic scale, while sound-light distraction devices produce 120-130 dB. These decibel levels are repeatedly and routinely experienced in both training and tactical deployments.

Current technological advances have allowed for a light weight headset that fits under the ballistic helmet issued, and ties in to the communications system. This would allow SERT operators to train and operate in tactical environments, while maintaining critical communication lines and prevent cumulative irreparable hearing loss.

The consensus of SERT members is that they would like to upgrade their ballistic and hearing protection to meet current threats. I have done significant research into both areas of inquiry. Based on this research, I have found that Level III plate armour for twenty-five SERT personnel (both front and back plates), is estimated to cost $30,000.00-35,000.00; hearing protection for the same number of operators is estimated to cost approximately $18,000.00.