How much??

[Classicvette63]

There was a story on the local news about a guy that took a shot at a cop. It was some type of standoff situation. The cop had one of those clear riot shields and the bullet ricocheted off of it. The thing that got me was the news said that those shields cost the police dept. $2,000! Are you kidding me? Gouging the police department is pretty crummy. And it doesn't cost that much to make something like that. I worked in plastics for a lot of years and have made things that were "bulletproof" although that wasn't there intended purpose.

[Nulle]

Yup they nail us on all the stuff and you should see the price tag on my Wildland Fire Nomex stuff.

[M.T. Pockets]

I'd be willing to bet that the largest cost of those things would be loss control & liability insurance. 99.9% success isn't good enough. Like Nulle said, anything in fire service is outrageous too. We have to update gear every so many years and we send our stuff to Mexico where they're glad to get it.

[BILLY D.]

THIS MINDSET GOES RIGHT ALONG WITH THE WORD TACTICAL. THAT SEEMS TO BE THE BUZZWORD THESE DAYS AND IT COMMANDS HIGHER PRICES.

WE NOW HAVE EVERYTHING FROM TACTICAL BULLETS TO TACTICAL HEALTH DRINKS.

NOMEX WASN'T CHEAP IN THE VIETNAM ERA EITHER WHEN A FLIGHT SUIT COST OVER $200. THE DOLLAR WAS ALMOST WORTH A DOLLAR IN THOSE DAYS. NOW IT'S WORTH ABOUT 33 CENTS LAST I HEARD AND WHO MADE UP THAT FIGURE I HAVE NO IDEA.

WELL I'M GOING TO DON MY TACTICAL UNDERWEAR AND TACTICAL BOOTS AND GO OUT AND FACE THE WORLD. ACTUALLY I'LL HAVE ON MORE THAN THAT, BUT YOU GET THE IDEA.

[fabsroman]

The cost to build something depends on three things: material, labor, and overhead. Who knows what the cost of overhead is for these companies. If one company could beat another company's prices and get 100% of the market share, I am sure they would. Now, if only one company supplies the stuff, than they can price gouge. You can also blame Law Enforcement for not requiring the manufacturers/sellers to submit proposals on the stuff so that Law Enforcement can get reduced prices. I am sure that a lot of these companies would be extremely competitive for a large order of shields or whatever.

Now, let's not overlook the fact that the shield might have saved that officer's life. If so, I would say the shield is worth every single dollar paid for it, but I still understand your side Classic.

[Nulle]

Specialty items command a higher price rather it is one or hundred. They will give a little lower rate but not that you would notice. A Nomax brush shirt is around $ 75.00 while the Jackets go from $183 up.

[Rocky Raab]

Don't forget the cost of testing anything like that to get it "certified."

Y'all know I sell custom earplugs. The silicone putty I use for that costs about $30 an ounce. Why? Because it originally cost over $100,000 to get that chemical formulation both approved by the FDA for long-term skin contact and then ANSI testing to get an official NRR sound suppression rating. It takes a long time for my company to absorb that testing expense - and they sell that putty to 2,500 dealers like me.

The cost of police and fire gear has to include all the testing expenses, too.

[M.T. Pockets]

I sit on the purchasing committee for our department and there are several vendors who compete for business, fire service is actually very competitive, I'm thinking police would be also. The lowest bidder meeting the bid specs gets the business.

I'm pretty conservative but I can tell you this, I've never worried about the cost of my gear when I'm inside a burning building and my life and the life of my partner is depending on our equipment working 100% flawlessly.

The cost of equipment is a drop in the bucket compared to the potential loss of life or medical expense of an injury. Plus, who is going to be willing to work in fire or law enforcement for a department that isn't willing to provide adequate personal protection. I can see why those shields cost $2,000. If they work, the cost is peanuts. If they don't, the manufacturer will need to sell a lot of them at that price to pay the claims.

[Classicvette63]

Don't get me wrong, $2,000 is cheap if it saves your life. But if your police dept. can't afford them, they don't do much good.

[fabsroman]

Let's look at this another way, a police department shouldn't have to buy all this stuff because things like that shouldn't happen. However, that is in an ideal world.