{"id":24505,"date":"2024-12-04T23:56:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T06:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-police-department-receives-30-rifle-rated-vests\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:55:16","slug":"cortez-police-department-receives-30-rifle-rated-vests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-police-department-receives-30-rifle-rated-vests\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez Police Department receives 30 rifle-rated vests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Cortez Police Department was awarded 30 rifle-rated Angel Armor vests from Shield616 at an event on Dec. 2. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Cortez Police Department was awarded 30 rifle rated vests at an event in City Council chambers on Monday, Dec. 2, at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

A Colorado Springs-based company called Shield616<\/a> traveled to the area to formally award the department Angel Armor, which can withstand bullets fired from a rifle.<\/p>\n

\u201cAngel Armor is the best stuff that\u2019s out there, and we\u2019re honored that you\u2019re getting the best protection,\u201d said Jake Skifstad, the founder of Shield616, to the crowded room of local law enforcement, their families and the community.<\/p>\n

\"The
The crowded room of local law enforcement, their families and community members, all in attendance to see the Cortez Police Department receive 30 Angel Armor vests from Shield 616 on Dec. 2. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The standard vests officers had worn up to this point could only protect against handguns, said Interim Chief Andy Brock.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s night and day,\u201d said Brock. \u201cIt\u2019s the best protection we can have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shield616 has helped protect 8,357 first responders across 360 agencies in 34 states, and the 30 vests Cortez just received is enough to outfit the whole department.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery certified officer will get one,\u201d Brock said.<\/p>\n

This was largely made possible by what many have referred to as a \u201ccrazy\u201d bike ride that Shield616 puts on each year in an effort to raise funds.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called the Tour De Shield, and it\u2019s a roughly 300-mile ride over four days in Colorado.<\/p>\n

The route changes year to year, as does the department they want to \u201cbless,\u201d Skifstad said.<\/p>\n

After Sgt. Michael Moran was killed on duty Nov. 29, 2023, they chose to bless Cortez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard about the ride while I was on vacation,\u201d said officer Jason Giacchino, one of the two officers from the Cortez Police Department to participate in the \u201ccrazy\u201d ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got back, I said I\u2019d like to go and help the department get new vests. They said no problem, no one was signing up,\u201d said Giacchino. \u201cMike wasn\u2019t one to work out, but for some reason I wanted to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler Smith, the other Cortez officer to do the ride, remembered it as a \u201ctour through the Front Range.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s finally come together, and I\u2019m grateful,\u201d said Smith. \u201cA big thank-you to everyone who made this happen: Shield616, the community, the officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the 252.3-mile ride in May through Colorado Springs, Golden, Boulder, Estes Park and Loveland, the riders raised $188,581 of its $220,000 goal.<\/p>\n

There were 19 participants \u2013 seven of which were first responders \u2013 and they gained 12,500 feet in elevation over the four-day ride. They also consumed five Colorado Cherry Co. pies, and had only two flat tires and zero injuries, besides soreness.<\/p>\n

That money they raised helped purchase more than 70 Angel Armor vests for six agencies in Colorado: Cortez, the Alamosa Sheriff\u2019s Office, Boulder County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Colorado Springs Police Department, Lake County Sheriff\u2019s Office and the Trinidad Police Department.<\/p>\n

Cortez was \u201cblessed\u201d as it received the largest allocation of vests of all the agencies.<\/p>\n

At the event Monday, Skifstad told the story of Shield616, and how his time as a police officer in Colorado Springs for more than a decade is what inspired him to start it.<\/p>\n

During his service, he was involved in two active shootings; one of which was the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting in 201, which killed three people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went up against guys who\u2019s only intent that day was to kill as many people as they could, and they didn\u2019t care who,\u201d Skifstad said.<\/p>\n

He said the officers had on standard vests, which wouldn\u2019t withstand shots from a rifle.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow am I supposed to protect my community from whatever threat that comes their way, but if it involves a rifle, I have no protection against it?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Officers have to train themselves to go against human nature to go to a threat and try to stop it, \u201call the while knowing they have no protection against it,\u201d Skifstad said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll tell you guys, it\u2019s hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He then invited the 22 officers from the Cortez Police Department in attendance to come to the front of the chambers and stand behind their new vests, which were displayed on tables with the Angel Armor inserts laid out in front of them.<\/p>\n

The officers made their way up there and took turns introducing themselves and saying how long they\u2019d been in the area, at the job.<\/p>\n

After, they were thanked for their service as the audience stood and clapped.<\/p>\n

Next, the audience was invited to go and find the officer they were paired with via magnet; on top of the Angel Armor, in front of each vest, were two magnets: One with an officer\u2019s name and work email on it, and another with the name of an audience member and their contact information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re on a magnet for a reason,\u201d said Skifstad. \u201cWe all go to the fridge \u2013 some more than others \u2013 but I want you to put this magnet on your fridge to remind you (of them) \u2026 because I can guarantee they\u2019re having a tough day. Please say a prayer for them. Maybe today\u2019s the day you reach out and treat them to coffee or lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will be blessed getting to know your law enforcement, and you all,\u201d he said, motioning to the officers, \u201cwill be blessed getting to know your community.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so everyone got up and went looking for the officer they were paired with and shook their hand, said hello. Then, the audience members were instructed to stand behind the officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember this moment when you\u2019re having a bad day, of all these good people standing here behind you, seeing the good work you do,\u201d said Skifstad. \u201cYou are making a difference in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Half
Half the Cortez Police Department in attendance at an event where they received Angel Armor vests, posing with said vests. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The other half the Cortez Police Department in attendance at an event where it received 30 rifle-rated vests. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s enough to outfit the whole department <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,29,51],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-police"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78557,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24505\/revisions\/78557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24505"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}