US bullet-proof vests for police. Branson to fly gift cast-offs here at no cost

Mr Richard Branson has agreed to fly them free of charge on Virgin

Atlantic Airways, and the first batch of 30 vests, which will be sent to

Glasgow, is set to arrive next week.

The operation is being organised by individual officers on an

unofficial basis and the Home Office said last night: ''It is really a

matter for chief constables to decide what their officers can wear.''

Strathclyde Chief Constable Leslie Sharp welcomed the ''very genuine''

motives behind the operation, but said there was a ''misconception''

that his officers were unprotected for lack of funds.

Mr Sharp warned that the protective vests, which have not been tested

and approved, may give police officers a false sense of safety when they

are dealing with potentially violent criminals.

Strathclyde police's current proposals for police safety, which are

thought to include side-handled batons and strengthened handcuffs, are

being considered by Strathclyde Regional Council's police and fire

committee. The committee is expected to announce its findings on

Thursday.

The plans apparently do not include protective vests, despite calls

for their introduction after incidents such as the murder of Constable

Lewis Fulton in Glasgow last month, because no suitable vests have yet

been identified.

However, British police officers who wish to use vests donated by

American police are now able to acquire them privately through a scheme

initiated by Detective Constable Jim McNulty, of Strathclyde police's

stolen car squad in Glasgow. The offer was made by American police

officers using an electronic database for off-duty officers and picked

up by Mr McNulty.

The #400 vests have a recommended lifespan of 10 years but are

replaced by American police departments after about four years.

Mr Sharp said yesterday that the offer of assistance from American

police officers appeared to be a very genuine example of the empathy

between police officers throughout the world.

''However, policing styles, the nature of crime in Strathclyde, and

the requirements of operational police offices at this time are quite

different to those experienced in the United States.

''The misconception is that the barrier to the provision of protective

vests to my officers is essentially one of finance. This is not the

case. Rather, the issue is one of identifying the vest which will best

protect my officers.''

He added: ''I am aware that some officers in forces have privately

purchased protective vests for their own use. I understand the reason

for doing so, when a certain criminal element appears to be increasingly

willing to use violence, including weapons, against them.

''I am, however, concerned that equipment not properly tested,

trialed, and evaluated may in fact provide a false sense of safety.

''Together with the police authority, I am planning the issue of

improved equipment which, allied to training, will better protect my

officers.''

A Strathclyde police spokesman said that none of the force's 7000

officers would be prevented from wearing a vest.