FAYETTE COUNTY, Texas — Fayette County deputies have received new rifle-resistant vests that the sheriff’s office says will help in situations where deputies are isolated in remote environments.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office said it received grant funding through the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division Rifle-Resistant Body Armor Grant program for the ballistic vests. This will allow it to use some of the existing inventory that was obtained through DPS to protect other agencies such as local police and Fayette County EMS.
The sheriff’s office is a member of a multi-agency regional tactical team that responds to incidents such as armed barricaded suspects and hostage situations.
“We have a large transportation corridor with I-10, US Hwy 77, 90 and 290, and State Highways 71, 95, 159, and 237 traversing the county,” said Craig Moreau, chief of emergency management and homeland security for the county, on Wednesday. “This leaves our limited number of law enforcement officers the burden to cover large areas with limited back-up from fellow officers. Complicating the problem is that these interstates and highways are also well known and well-documented corridors for the organized crimes of narcotics trafficking, human sex-crimes trafficking and human-immigration trafficking. These crime syndicates are often well-armed and well-financed.”
Moreau said deputies need armor that can stop high-powered rifles and have some level of stab resistance.
“This is a life-safety necessity,” he said. “The Department of Justice calls Interstate 10 a ‘super highway for human trafficking.’ It’s essentially a coast-to-coast ‘slave route’ for domestic traffickers. It’s also the closest east-west corridor from the U.S./Mexico border, the most common entry for international smugglers and traffickers. Fayette County Sheriff’s Department works diligently with regional, state and federal partners in interdiction and disruption programs to stem the flow of human trafficking and drugs along the I-10 corridor. We are happy to have been able to support them in their fight to protect our community and our surrounding neighbors.”
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