Police bulletproof vests fail a test

ÜGEN VOS

JOHANNESBURG - The smell of gunpowder hangs heavy in the air, and Clark Rosslien has just blown another hole straight through a police bulletproof vest – several times.

The Boksburg businessman came under heavy fire in September for claiming his vests were superior to those issued to the police – and yesterday Rosslien decided to prove his point to the media.

Rosslien’s vests stood up to a barrage of bullets from the powerful AK-47 assault rifle, R-1 (favoured by KZN’s heist gangs), SANDF-issue R-4, police-issue R-5, and American M16. It also stopped a hit from the 30.06 Garand , a weapon powerful enough to kill an elephant.

Conventional body armour of the type typically issued to law enforcement and security services seemed unable to replicate these results when tested with the same weapons (the Garand excepted).

“I and my staff have been accused of being cowboys – but this cowboy puts his money where his mouth is,” Rosslien told journalists and security experts.

“We have a situation in this country where police are being shot at with military grade weapons. We are a business, but we are also in the business of saving lives… my vest will save your life and also protect you from trauma.”

Some bulletproof manufacturers have accused Rosslien of misleading the Press and SA Police Service (SAPS), threatening him with a court interdict to protect their business. They feel he failed to comply fully with special shooting patterns and other SABS standards, but he has not let that put him off.

“Perhaps the clowns that said that would like to stand behind their vests. I will most certainly stand behind mine… before I put some other person’s son or daughter behind it,” he said.

Rosslien has been working on his design for over a decade. He has shown us glowing testimonials from municipal authorities and paramedics working with the flying squad, but has so far failed to interest the SAPS in his product.

He caused consternation when he went public with the results in September, prompting Gauteng MPL John Moodey to ask for urgent quality control checks on all police- issue bulletproof vests.