U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800

Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001

42–726 PDF 2008

S. HRG. 110–401

THE BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM: PROTECTING OUR NATION’S LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

MAY 13, 2008

Serial No. J–110–92

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

(

(II)

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman 

EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts 

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware 

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin 

CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York 

RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa 

JON KYL, Arizona 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina 

JOHN CORNYN, Texas 

SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

BRUCE A. COHEN, Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

STEPHANIE A. MIDDLETON, Republican Staff Director 

NICHOLAS A. ROSSI, Republican Chief Counsel 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS 

Page

Feingold, Hon. Russell D., a U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin, prepared statement ................................................................................................... 12

Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont .................... 1

prepared statement .......................................................................................... 17

WITNESSES 

Azur, David, Detective, Baltimore City Police Department, Baltimore, Maryland ........................................................................................................................ 5

Macarilla, Michael, Lieutenant, Vermont State Police, Waterbury, Vermont .... 3

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

Azur, David, Detective, Baltimore City Police Department, Baltimore, Maryland, statement .................................................................................................... 10

Herraiz, Domingo S., Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice 

Programs, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., statement .................... 13

Macarilla, Michael, Lieutenant, Vermont State Police, Waterbury, Vermont, 

statement .............................................................................................................. 19

(1)

THE BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM: PROTECTING OUR NATION’S LAW 

ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS 

TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, 

Washington, D.C. 

The Committee met, Pursuant to notice, at 9:34 a.m., in room 

SD–226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Patrick J. Leahy, 

Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senator Leahy. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, A U.S. 

SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT 

Chairman LEAHY. Good morning, and I am pleased to convene today’s hearing about the Bulletproof Vest Partnership grant program during National Police Week. Lieutenant Macarilla and Detective Azur, please come up and sit down. 

I thank our witnesses for taking time during this week of very 

important events and meaningful ceremonies to appear before this 

Committee and share their experiences with us to help us better 

understand the importance of body armor for our peace officers. 

Incidentally, I am looking forward to Thursday morning to be at 

the events on the West Front of the Capitol, as I am most years, 

because this is the week that law enforcement officers come from 

around the country, they come to Washington to honor the men 

and women who have given their lives in the line of service over 

the past year. 

One thing with the ceremony, it shows that all Americans join 

in expressing their gratitude to these officers and, of course, to 

their families. I hope today’s hearing will add to the recognition of 

the tremendously important jobs all of you do, and that Congress 

and the American people will take the time to reflect upon the sacrifices you make. I know I speak for all Americans in thanking you 

and all of the men and women serving in law enforcement for your 

service to our communities and to the people of the United States. 

The intent of this hearing is to highlight the importance of the 

Bulletproof Vest Partnership grant program. We are going to hear 

directly from those who are on the other end of that body armor 

program. 

I want to have the forum also so I could let Members of Congress 

know how important the bulletproof vests are to not only the officers but to their families. This week at Thursday’s memorial, we 

2

will recognize and remember the officers lost in the line of duty 

during the last year. There were 181 officers. Each death is a tragedy, but this is the largest yearly total since the extraordinary 

losses on 9/11 and its aftermath. Let me emphasize that we have 

to do all we can to protect the men and women who protect us. 

One of the officers with us today has had firsthand experience 

with the importance of armor vests, and I am grateful to him for 

his willingness to share the experience with the Committee. I am 

also very pleased that Lieutenant Michael Macarilla from the 

Vermont State Police is here with us to share his insights into this 

program. The lieutenant has done something I am not quite sure 

I could have done, but he arrived in Washington by bicycle. Our 

State Police normally do not patrol in Vermont by bicycle. There 

is a T-shirt which says, ‘‘Vermont is not flat.’’ And it is not. But 

he rode 300 miles from New Jersey with other police officers in the 

Police Unity Tour to raise awareness about those who have lost 

their lives and to raise funds for the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum. Michael, thank you for doing that. 

I was proud to initiate the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Act. I 

did it with Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the former Senator 

from Colorado, and who had also been a deputy sheriff. Between 

1999 and 2007, our bill gave $234 million to the States, and that 

means 818,044 vests. It is great that the law we enacted is having 

a real impact on the security of our officers. I have had a lot of officers come up to me in airports all over the country and other cities 

and say, ‘‘I heard you wrote the vest program.’’ They will tap their 

chest, and they will say, ‘‘Thank you.’’ I say ‘‘Thank you’’ to them 

for protecting us. 

Now, the President’s budget has repeatedly left out funding for 

this program, but Congress has stepped up, we have recognized its 

importance. We have put together a bipartisan coalition to keep it 

strong. I hope we will do it again. It may be easy for somebody who 

is just looking at Federal grant programs as just numbers and find 

ways to reduce Federal spending. But when it comes to the safety 

of law enforcement officers, I can think of no rational excuse not 

to fully fund what Congress requires in this program. And for those 

of us who had the privilege of serving in law enforcement before 

we came here, we know how important that is. 

Bulletproof vests are expensive; no officer should be without one. 

They should be basic equipment. We should be past the time when 

this is viewed by departments as optional or when officers, who do 

not get that great a salary begin with, are told to pay for it themselves. The vests are a fundamental part of keeping officers safe in 

the line of duty, and if State and local jurisdictions are unable to 

pay for it, I think the Federal Government should step up. If we 

can afford to send over $1 billion to pay for equipment for the Iraqi 

Police Department—and then we do not know where most of it 

went—we ought to be able to take care of the police departments 

in our own country. So let us pay for training and equipment for 

our officers. Let’s do some of the things we need to do here at 

home. 

I am introducing today a bill to reauthorize this program for another 3 years, and this week the Judiciary Committee will take up 

legislation to give the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance 

3

at the Justice Department the authority to waive the Act’s matching requirement. 

I will put the rest of my statement in the record. I want to hear 

from the witnesses, and I know we are going to have votes here in 

a while on the floor. 

[The prepared statement of Chairman Leahy appears as a submission for the record.] 

Chairman LEAHY. Michael Macarilla is a lieutenant with the 

Vermont State Police. He works to distribute bulletproof vests to 

officers in our State, and we talked about this back home in 

Vermont. He began his service with the State troopers in 1989. He 

became a lieutenant in 2006. He worked in the Bureau of Criminal 

Investigation from 1998 to 2003. He was a liaison with the Bureau 

of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. He served on various volunteer 

fire departments and ambulance squads over the years. He has 

been on the Executive Board of Vermont Troopers Foundation from 

2000 to 2007. 

And then he will be joined by Detective David Azur. He is a detective with the Baltimore Police Department in Baltimore, Maryland. He also works as a task force officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Detective Azur began serving with the 

Baltimore Police in 1993 as a patrol officer. He became a detective 

in 1997. He was subsequently assigned to a multi-jurisdictional 

auto theft task force. While working for the regional auto theft task 

force in 2000, Detective Azur was shot in the line of duty at pointblank range. He survived because he was wearing a bulletproof 

vest, and he was awarded the Medal of Valor for his actions that 

day and has been awarded the Exceptional Police Performance 

Award by the Baltimore County Police Foundation. I hope I do not 

sound parochial in pointing out that he is from South Burlington, 

Vermont, and he attended the University of Vermont and Florida 

State University. 

So, Lieutenant Macarilla, we will begin with you, sir. Go ahead. 

STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT MICHAEL MACARILLA, 

VERMONT STATE POLICE, WATERBURY, VERMONT 

Mr. MACARILLA. Senator Leahy, distinguished members of the 

Committee, I am Lieutenant Michael Macarilla of the Vermont 

State Police. 

This morning, I am honored to share with you the experiences 

my Department has had with the Bulletproof Vest grant program 

from its inception 10 years ago. 

The Vermont Department of Public Safety has had an extensive 

and successful working relationship with Senator Leahy and with 

the Bureau of Justice Assistance. In 1998, Senator Leahy cosponsored the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act at a time when 

our department was regrouping in the aftermath of the so-called 

Colebrook Incident. 

On August 19, 1997, a lone gunman killed four people in northern New Hampshire, including New Hampshire State Troopers 

Scott Phillips and Leslie Lord. The gunman also wounded four additional law enforcement officers in ambush fashion. The rampage 

began in New Hampshire, but moved into Vermont where the gunVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:38 Jun 10, 2008 Jkt 042726 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\42726.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC
4

man was finally stopped by a combined force of Vermont, New 

Hampshire, and Federal law enforcement officers. 

At that time, Vermont State Troopers did not have ballistic body 

armor provided by the Department. Each trooper made the personal decision whether to purchase this life-saving, yet expensive, 

equipment. As a result of extensive after-action reviews, the 

Vermont State Police committed to providing ballistic body armor 

to each member of the Department. 

On the national level, Congress recognized the need to help local, 

county, and State law enforcement agencies by supporting the purchase of body armor through the Bulletproof Vest Partnership 

Grant Act. 

As administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Act has 

allowed the Vermont State Police to purchase over 350 sets of ballistic body armor over the last 10 years. A credit to the provisions 

of the Act, the expense of this investment is half of what the actual 

cost for the department would have been. This provides a savings 

to the department that can be used for other equally critical needs. 

Although the department was committed to the purchase of ballistic body armor regardless of the passage of the Act, certainly the 

force-multiplying effect of the Act should not be understated. While 

the dollar amounts may seem small by national standards, this 

support is often the critical difference when a small agency is faced 

with prioritizing how to spend limited dollars on what is truly lifesaving equipment. 

We understand that there is discussion concerning an option to 

permit the Bureau of Justice Assistance to waive the matching 

funds requirement of the Act. The Vermont Department of Public 

Safety supports that concept. The Bureau of Justice Assistance has 

been an outstanding partner with the States. Under the leadership 

of Director Domingo Herraiz, the Bureau has worked diligently to 

get funding resources and technical assistance out to the field with 

a minimum of bureaucratic hurdles. The authority to waive matching requirements for agencies that need that latitude will continue 

the proven effectiveness of the BJA. 

Vermont has been fortunate in not having the experience of other 

States with officers being wounded or killed by gunfire. The Committee will continue to hear from law enforcement officers who owe 

their lives to the presence of this grant program. 

In March of this year, Senator Leahy and Senator Specter traveled to Rutland, Vermont, and heard testimony from Vermonters 

on the influx of more brazen, violent actions related to drug-trafficking activity. Vermont is not immune to violence, and Vermont 

law enforcement—and Vermont State Police agencies are greatly 

indebted to the ongoing support we receive from your efforts in the 

combined justice assistance programs that are available to us. Your 

efforts to protect us with these programs, such as the Bulletproof 

Vest Partnership Grant, allow us to protect our citizens. 

Thank you for the honor and opportunity to offer this testimony 

today. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Macarilla appears as a submission for the record.] 

Chairman LEAHY. Well, thank you for being here. We are going 

to go into questions in a minute, but you speak about the Draga 

5

event that involved both States and Federal authorities near the 

Canadian border. It was just horrible. A lot of things came out of 

that, not only the bulletproof vests but more effort at having the 

ability for various jurisdictions to speak to each other on radios. As 

you know, we have lots of dead spots where cell phones are no 

good. 

The then-Director of the FBI, Louis Freeh, was staying at my 

home in Vermont, in Middlesex—and you know where that is. 

Mr. MACARILLA. Yes, sir. 

Chairman LEAHY. We decided to drive down to the hospital, just 

the two of us, and see one of the Federal agents who had been 

badly wounded. It was not until I came there that I made the connection with his last name. His father had been a professor of mine 

at St. Michael’s College, and I had known him—I first saw this officer when he was about a month old. And it was quite emotional. 

He survived—severely wounded, but survived. Not all the officers 

did, as you know. 

Detective Azur, would you please give your testimony? I know 

what is in it, but I think we should hear that. 

STATEMENT OF DETECTIVE DAVID AZUR, BALTIMORE CITY 

POLICE DEPARTMENT, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 

Mr. AZUR. Thank you. Good morning again. Thank you for the 

opportunity to speak here today. It is truly an honor. 

My name is David Azur, and I am a detective with the Baltimore 

City Police Department in Maryland. I would like to share with 

you why I believe so strongly in the importance of every officer 

wearing a bulletproof vest. 

I have been a police officer since 1993 and became a detective in 

1997. On July 24, 2000, I was a member of a multi-jurisdictional 

auto theft task force. Our goal was to apprehend car thieves while 

they were driving stolen vehicles. I was working in plain clothes 

and was operating an unmarked sport utility vehicle. I wore a 

PACA brand bulletproof vest in a black tactical carrier that I wore 

over my shirt. The vest was clearly marked ‘‘POLICE’’ in big, bold 

letters, and it was issued to me in August 1995. 

At approximately 12:30 in the afternoon, I observed a suspected 

stolen vehicle traveling northbound on Pennsylvania Avenue in 

Baltimore City. With the assistance of additional units from the 

auto theft task force, we stopped the vehicle at a red light on a 

busy main street in Baltimore. I approached the passenger side of 

the vehicle and spoke with both the driver and the passenger 

through an open window. My partner approached the driver side 

of the vehicle as well. I asked the driver who owned the vehicle. 

He said he obtained the vehicle from an unknown male earlier in 

the day and did not know who owned the car. I told my partner 

to pull the driver out of the vehicle and to place him under arrest. 

I then removed the passenger from the vehicle and immediately got 

into a struggle with him. 

The car door was open, and I had the suspect pinned up against 

the car between the open door and the passenger seat, my chest 

against his back. As I was restraining him, he attempted to grab 

something from his pocket, which I assumed were drugs that he 

was trying to dispose of. I had his left arm pinned to the top of the 

6

car, and I reached around and grabbed his right arm. A third officer, who had arrived on the scene and was standing on the other 

side of the open passenger door, attempted to grab the suspect’s 

right arm as well. Just as the officer grabbed the suspect’s arm, the 

suspect rotated to his left, and I heard a gunshot. Unbeknownst to 

me, the suspect had a .38-caliber revolver in his waist, which he 

had grabbed with his right hand. He reached around his body, positioning the gun under his left armpit. When he rotated to the left, 

he shot me at point-blank range, dead center in the chest. The gunshot threw me back, but did not knock me down. The suspect took 

off running, and the two officers on the scene with me took off running after him. Nobody knew that I had been shot, including myself. 

Perhaps 5 to 10 seconds later I heard a second gunshot, which 

was the suspect committing suicide. It was at that point that I felt 

the pain in my chest and realized that I had been shot. I gasped 

for air and shouted to an officer about 20 feet away from me that 

I had been shot. He was shocked and shouted back, ‘‘What?’’ I told 

him that I had been shot. I then grabbed my handheld radio and 

alerted the police dispatcher that I had been shot and waited for 

help to arrive. I ripped off my vest and asked the officer ‘‘Where’s 

the blood?’’ He told me that the bullet didn’t go through the vest, 

and I replied that it still hurt like hell. My chest bruised almost 

instantly, and by the time the medic arrived on the scene, I had 

a bruise the size of a volleyball on my chest. 

I was taken to the University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma Unit 

and was told that if I hadn’t been wearing my bulletproof vest that 

in all likelihood I would have died. I was released from the hospital 

less than 5 hours after having been shot in the chest at point-blank 

range. I suffered minor nerve damage, which I still have to this 

day, but it is a small price to pay for what could have happened 

if I had not been wearing my vest. 

Many people view the day that I got shot as a terrible day, but 

I view it as just the opposite. I am lucky to be alive and owe my 

life to the bulletproof vest. Every officer should have a bulletproof 

vest. If there is anything that I can do or say to help officers obtain 

and wear their vest, then I would love to do it and feel as though 

it is the least that I can do. 

Again, thank you for your time, and it has been an honor. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Azur appears as a submission for 

the record.] 

Chairman LEAHY. You said if there is anything you could say or 

do. You have, and I can assure you that every member of this Committee is going to see that testimony. 

I notice that Jim Pasco, the Executive Director of the FOP, just 

came in, and, Jim, would you stand up so these officers can see 

you. 

The FOP has been tremendous in its support of the bulletproof 

vest program, and I am sure they will take note of the testimony 

of both of you. 

Let me ask Lieutenant Macarilla this: In the Justice Department, the Department of Justice is administering this. Mostly 

there are parts where they do it very well, and parts where maybe 

7

they should do it better. Can you talk about both? Where do you 

think they do the best, where do you think they might do better? 

Mr. MACARILLA. Our experience in Vermont has been quite positive. They make the moneys available to our grants specialist. She 

lets us know how much money we have to spend on the vests, and 

then they reimburse us after the vests are purchased. We cannot 

match those Federal funds with other Federal funds such as funds 

that we take from drug dealers, the profits of drug sales. That may 

be something that may need to be looked into so that funds that 

are seized from a drug deal that are supposed to go back into law 

enforcement can also be used to purchase the vests for the other 

half. 

Chairman LEAHY. You know, Marc Metayer is now the Deputy 

Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety. He 

helped a lot in the passage of the original law. My office worked 

with him, and I worked closely with him. In fact, at the signing 

ceremony, he was here and made comments about introducing the 

President, President Clinton at that time. He described how for 20 

years as a State trooper he has purchased his own body armor, but 

also for many that was not a possibility. And, of course, after the 

Carl Draga matter we talked about, he realized how important it 

was. 

Our State is probably typical of rural areas with the exception 

of Burlington, South Burlington. Most of the police departments 

are fairly small, and in a lot of towns there may be a one-person 

police department, if that. Otherwise, we rely on the State Police 

or sheriff’s departments. Do you find that some of these towns have 

problems matching the amount of money—or doing the matching 

funds to buy vests? 

Mr. MACARILLA. They do. Small towns like the town I live in, 

Waterbury, I think 70 percent of the village’s budget goes to the 

police department as it is. With resources as limited as they are 

for a small five- or six-man department, they can run into problems 

getting the matching grants. And then they also have to have the 

administrators within the village government to go out and do the 

research and make sure they apply for the funding to come back 

to the departments afterwards. So it can be for the smaller towns 

very troublesome. 

Chairman LEAHY. They also have—of course, sometimes you 

have departments that have gone through terrible tragedies, 

Katrina and things like that, and there is no money for anything. 

Mr. MACARILLA. Right. 

Chairman LEAHY. And the matching funds can be more than 

enough. You know, it worries me also, again, with these small 

areas. They happen to have no back-up, and they are often the only 

person on the scene, and you would think that you would want, if 

anything, to require even more equipment to be there. 

Mr. MACARILLA. Right. 

Chairman LEAHY. And one of the things when I first got into this 

with Senator Campbell and I started researching it, I was surprised—and when I was a prosecutor, you almost never saw any 

kind of body armor, not the type of things we have today. But I 

was surprised to find out these things break down. They wear out. 

Is that correct? 

8

Mr. MACARILLA. The manufacturers only warranty them for 5 

years, regardless of how much they have been used during that 5-

year period. So every 5 years, we have to replace the body armor 

that is issued to the officers. 

Chairman LEAHY. And, Detective Azur, do you still have that 

vest? 

Mr. AZUR. I do, sir. This is the trauma plate. You know, in addition to my ballistic vest that goes around my body, I have got a 

pound in the center that holds this plate. 

Chairman LEAHY. Would you hold that up? 

Mr. AZUR. And this is where the bullet struck me. It looks like 

a little tiny smudge mark. 

Chairman LEAHY. It didn’t feel like that on the other side, did 

it? 

Mr. AZUR. Yes, it felt like a sledgehammer, and it hit me in the 

chest. And talking about the warranty on the vest, my vest was 

issued to me in August 1995, so the warranty expired in August 

2000, and I got shot on July 24th of 2000. 

Chairman LEAHY. Man, you got lucky all around. You know, it 

seems almost wrong to say this, but if you had not had it, you 

might not have felt anything. You would have been dead. 

Mr. AZUR. Absolutely. Yes, I have no doubt about that whatsoever. 

Chairman LEAHY. Wearing that vest—I mean, if you had not 

been wearing a vest, would you not have still reacted—I mean, you 

would have gone and tried to make the arrest and everything else? 

Mr. AZUR. Absolutely. 

Chairman LEAHY. That is your job, right? 

Mr. AZUR. Yes, although there has never been a day when I have 

not worn my vest. It is just part of my standard equipment. I cannot imagine going on the street without wearing my gun, and I 

cannot imagine going on the street without wearing my vest. 

Chairman LEAHY. Is there a mandatory policy for the Baltimore 

Police? 

Mr. AZUR. There is, although, you know, there is personal choice. 

There are still many members of the department that do not wear 

their vests, which just amazes me. But it is a matter of personal 

choice, and it is essential equipment that you must have. 

Chairman LEAHY. Well, probably you will talk about—one of the 

things I learned as a prosecutor is never ask a question if you do 

not know the answer. I think I know the answer to this, but would 

both of you agree we ought to be reauthorizing this program? 

Mr. MACARILLA. Yes, sir. 

Mr. AZUR. Yes, sir. 

Chairman LEAHY. And you like the idea for giving the department the ability to waive the matching, if necessary? 

Mr. MACARILLA. I think with the smaller towns, with the limited 

resources they have, that is a necessity. 

Chairman LEAHY. Well, I am going to introduce a bipartisan bill 

to reauthorize this program for another 3 years, and I am going to 

do that today. Congressman Visclosky is going to do that in the 

House. This is not a matter of Republicans or Democrats. That is 

why when Senator Campbell and I first joined on it, we made it 

9

very clear that it is not a Republican or a Democratic bill. This is 

a law enforcement bill. 

I know Senator Shelby, Republican from Alabama, and Senator 

Mikulski, Democrat from Maryland and the Chair of one of the 

Subcommittees and in Appropriations, have worked hard on this 

also. We will try to get this passed. 

I think many of the members on this Committee served in one 

form or another in law enforcement, as I did. We understand it. 

But I think it is important, and that is why I thank the FOP and 

others who are getting the word out how important it is to let people know. You have helped a great deal with that. I think that it 

is important that we hear these real-life things. 

You talked about the Draga incident, which I remember very, 

very well, and both FBI Director Freeh and I were—the phones 

were very busy at my farmhouse during that week. And, Detective 

Azur, we will let your family back in Vermont know you were here. 

I am sure they were delighted that you were OK after that. 

Mr. AZUR. Yes. 

Chairman LEAHY. I am also going to submit for the record a 

statement submitted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance Director 

Domingo Herraiz, and I thank Director Herraiz and the Department of Justice for their work on this. 

We will adjourn because we are going to have votes, but obviously, I support the bill. I know it has the strong support of the 

Fraternal order of Police. I am hoping that we can put this one on 

a fast track. I do not want to have any place where we go a few 

months without it. I live in a town of—you live in Waterbury, Lieutenant. How many people in Waterbury? 

Mr. MACARILLA. A couple thousand. 

Chairman LEAHY. Yes. And Middlesex has 1,200 where I am, the 

adjoining town. Montpelier, our State capital, has 8,500, where I 

was born. So you are the big-city guy here, Detective. 

Mr. AZUR. I miss Vermont. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman LEAHY. Well, I am going to be there this weekend, and 

I look forward to being there. And I look forward to being home. 

I know that we have excellent law enforcement in our State, as you 

do in yours. And I also sometimes think that a lot of people do not 

realize what law enforcement people do for the hours they put in. 

Thank you very much, and we will stand in recess. 

Mr. MACARILLA. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. AZUR. Thank you, sir. 

[Whereupon, at 10:04 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

[Submissions for the record follow.]

10


42726.001
11


42726.002
12


42726.003
13


42726.004
14


42726.005
15


42726.006
16


42726.007
17


42726.008
18


42726.009
19


42726.010
20


42726.011
21

Æ


42726.012