 While police officers will have an extra layer of protection as SHIELD 616 presented officers with new safety gear. SHIELD 616 is an organization where the community financially invests into the officers with armor packages. Hady Clodder tells us how the police will be safer in the line of duty. The life of a police officer comes with a lot of uncertainty. There's a possibility of not coming home at the end of a shift. You're going into an unknown situation, but if you let that fear hold you back, somebody else is going to have to pick up the slack and go and do the job. So it's okay to be scared, but you just have to use your training and your experience and your best judgment. Sixteen officers in state troopers will have an extra sense of security as they do their job. The SHIELD 616 Bemidji chapter presented armor packages during a presentation at Evangelical Covenant Church. We want to provide local law enforcement with enhanced gear specifically against those rifle threats that you commonly see used in an active shooter situation. So we want to make sure that if they're out there protecting us, that they have the right protection to keep them safe while doing their job. SHIELD 616 wants every person in police uniform to have advanced active shooter gear. They also want to act as a support group by offering daily prayers to officers and their families. They're committing themselves to praying for the officers. And we think that's important just for that spiritual protection too. The kids are designed to be worn over a police officer's uniform in case they're ever involved in a dangerous situation. For example, a call for service involving a rifle, and they're not meant to be worn every day. Officer Zach Rupor has been with the Bemidji police department for three years. He says working in his hometown has been the most rewarding part. Families present for tonight's presentation witness firsthand what their loved ones will use. It's awesome having that extra support just besides your family is to have support from within the community. It makes the job so much more worth it. Each kid includes a ballistic vest, an helmet, monocular and level armor. The $1,000 kids are made possible by donations and sponsorship from the community. They vary from the traditional bulletproof vest. Level four ceramic, um, sappy plate, what it's, that stop, essentially meant to stop multi-hit rifle rounds. Whereas the normal typical body armor that we wear is a level three A soft armor and it's rated for 12 gauge slugs and pistol rounds. So far, 40 officers have received the kids and Shield 616 hopes to provide all officers with them. In Bemidji, Haiti Clawder, Lakeland News. Shield 616 says the hostility toward law enforcement with incidents such as the Aurora Colorado Theater Shooting pushed the creation of the kids. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.