Sgt. Kelly will join representatives from other local law-enforcement agencies Monday in Yonkers to help unveil a new initiative of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to replace lost federal grants.
"I only had a slight bruise," said Sgt. Kelly, one of two officers shot at close range that night. He said he credits the vests "with preventing serious injury and saving our lives."
The initiative comes as bulletproof vests become an increasingly common piece of equipment for law-enforcement agencies across the region, with many agencies making it mandatory to wear them. The lives of more than 3,000 police officers have been saved by bulletproof vests in the past 30 years, according to the federal government.
Police agencies such as Schenectady's once only issued vests to new officers, who would have to pay out of their own pockets to replace them when needed. A Kevlar vest is good for about five years, and the price starts at around $600. The Schenectady Police Department purchases its vests for $925 each.
In recent years, a federal-government program approved by Congress in 1998 had been picking up half the cost of new vests for local law-enforcement agencies.
In 2010, the federal government helped purchase 193,259 vests nationwide. In 2013, that number dropped to 60,631. New York saw a similar decrease. Law-enforcement agencies in the state bought 23,307 vests with the help of the federal government in 2010 and just 2,621 vests in 2013.
