HighCom Armor Ballistic Shield: Testimonial of its Protective Capabilities
As a global provider of body armor and personal protective equipment, HighCom Armor has been designing, developing, testing, manufacturing, and distributing dozens of National Institute of Justice (NIJ) compliant hard and soft body armor products, as well as other high-quality ballistic and personal protective gear. Thousands of customers from the United States Military and Law Enforcement communities to governments and agencies around the globe have come to depend on our advanced ballistic manufacturing processes. In addition to supplying Military and Law Enforcement agencies with life-saving protective equipment, for over two decades, HighCom provides private label/OEM hard and soft armor solutions to some of the largest defense companies and manufacturers for end use by military and law enforcement. Among the Law Enforcement agencies HighCom works with, Clarksville Tennessee Police Department shared a testimonial to the protective capabilities of the Bellfire™ ballistic shield.
Clarksville Tennessee Police Department
Clarksville Tennessee Police Department purchased a HighCom Armor Bellfire ballistic shield under a private label/OEM through one of its highly valued partner distributors, and it is from where Sergeant Robert Blamer shared a story from his Department that speaks not only to the importance of Law Enforcement having only the highest quality armor on-hand and ready for quick deployment, but also to the level of quality service customers’ will experience when purchasing armor systems from HighCom and its reputable partner distributors.
The Situation
Responding to a suicidal subject call after midnight in July of 2021, Clarksville Tennessee Police Department’s Sergeant Robert Blamer and the dispatched team were debriefed on a situation of a subject barricading themselves in a downstairs room with a handgun. Familiar with the shield and its capabilities having used it on several occasions with his department’s tactical unit, Sgt. Blamer grabbed the 24×48 ballistic shield, which is manufactured using a UHMWPE based material with an exterior cover of polyurea with Rhino Extreme 1150R Anti Spall Coating and a 4” x 16” ballistic viewport, from the precinct prior to heading to the scene.
Sgt. Blamer detailed prior to his arrival, “His Officers attempted to call out to the individual in the residence to attempt to negotiate a peaceful outcome and to make entry,” including, “retrieve a 2-year-old child [who] was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom.” It was then, “The subject fired off a round immediately upon entry, causing the Officers to back out and hold the front door entryway.”
The Situation Intensifies
Sgt. Blamer arrived on scene and brought the shield to the doorway, set up a team, and entered. “We moved behind the shield and set it facing toward the rooms the subject was believed to be in,” Sgt. Blamer stated. “This allowed Officers to quickly go upstairs and get the child outside to safety, [where] “we continued attempting to call out to the subject from the front door utilizing the shield as cover.”
“A large cloud of smoke became visible, and the subject stepped out holding the handgun as Officers pleaded [for him] to put it down.” Sgt. Blamer and the team, “Realizing the subject had set the house on fire, we stayed in place continuing to attempt to negotiate until the heat and smoke forced us to back away to the roadway.”
Fortunately, “A negotiator arrived, and we continued to talk out the subject using the shield in conjunction with a patrol car for as much cover as possible,” Sgt. Blamer said. Following a very intense exchange, the team was able to gain control of the situation and, “The subject was taken into custody in the front of the residence, as it was fully engulfed in flames.”
The Result
Sgt. Blamer recalls the situation highlighting the importance of having the shield that day. “The shield provided the safety and confidence to attempt to negotiate with an armed subject who was as close as 15 feet way at times during a two-hour standoff,” stating, “the shield, along with good tactics were instrumental in a positive resolution with no injuries to the subject or Officers.”
The Story Continues
With the shield acting as an armored wall of protection between an armed subject inside a home engulfed with flames, and Officers on a mission to protect the life of a 2-year-old child, disarm an intensely charged situation, and ensure the safety of the Officers and all who were involved in the standoff, the shield’s viewport ended up getting warped by the heat of the flames from the house. Although the viewport was damaged by the intense heat of the fire, the shield itself suffered no damaged to its exterior, but without use of the protective viewport, the shield needed repair as quickly as possible.
The Repair
Sgt. Blamer reached out to the partner distributor about the viewport and immediately they notified HighCom Armor of an urgent repair that needed to be done on the shield.
Recognized for their commitment to exceptional customer service and having a deep understanding to the urgency for Law Enforcement agencies to have armor on-hand and ready to deploy without notice, the partner distributor and HighCom jumped into action. Working with the distributor partner, HighCom Armor readily accepted the damaged shield and submitted the RMA with return label at no cost to Clarksville Police Department. Clarksville Police Department shipped out the shield which was received on August 17th. The shield was immediately repaired and shipped back to Clarksville Police Department on August 18th via Priority Overnight; ensuring Sgt. Blamer and his Department would not go long without it.
Conclusion
The shield arrived back at the precinct with Sgt. Robert Blamer within 24 hours testifying to the exceptional commitment to service by HighCom and its partner distributors to get the armor back to Sgt. Blamer as quickly as possible. The quick turnaround time also demonstrated that whether it is Clarksville Tennessee Police Department, or any other agency, purchasing and deploying HighCom Armor ballistic armor and protective equipment, all can rest assured they will not only receive the highest performance of protection from a HighCom Armor product, but they will also have these life-saving products ready for deployment at any given moment the situation calls for them to use it.
Quoted testimonial from Sgt. Robert Blamer describing the situation occurring after midnight on 7/14/21.
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