The Los Angles County Board of Supervisors, on a motion by Supervisor Don Knabe, will support the District Attorney’s efforts to seek new legislation to reinstate the ban and use or possession of body armor for violent felons.
On December 17, 2009, the California Court of Appeals overturned a decade-old law banning the possession of body armor by violent felons. The California legislature banned felons from having body armor in 1998 after a nationally televised shootout in North Hollywood between Los Angeles police officers and two heavily armed bank robbers who were equipped with ballistic vests. The confrontation left the robbers dead and ten police officers along with five civilians injured.
This is a common sense public safety issue; violent felons shouldn’t have body armor said Supervisor Knabe. We all remember the terrible tragedy that occurred in our backyard just a decade ago. This Board pledges its full support to not only our District Attorney, but also to the State Attorney General in their efforts regarding this important issue.