NYPD to add ballistic panels to its vehicles

The commissioner of the NYPD touted new measures Tuesday to help keep officers safer while on patrol.
Commissioner Bill Bratton said new ballistic panels will be used in police vehicles. 

 

"This is the latest in the effort of the department to try to [use] every degree possible to protect our officers as they go in harm's way," Bratton said. 

 

The program involves retrofitting the two front doors and windows with bullet-resistant panels and glass that can stop a number of different kinds of bullets. A total of 60 cars will take part in the pilot program. 

 

Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were sitting in their patrol car in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, when they were approached and shot. 

 

The new bullet-resistant vehicles will hit the streets this week and could eventually reach out to all cruisers.