Colorado and Vermont state police agencies donated defensive equipment to the Ukrainians facing down Russian forces.
The Colorado Department of Public Safety said that it came from empathising with the men of serving age in Ukraine.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced used and expired vests of body armor would be sent, and the Vermont State Police encouraged civilian donations of high-grade Level III or above body armor, a type that provides some degree of protection against less powerful types. Colorado's Department of Public Safety is donating 80 sets of body armor and 750 ballistic helmets, while Pennsylvania's Falls Township Police Department is sending 52 vests, which are more useful for military applications, according to Vice. Fight dress uniforms, which are designed for use in combat, are among the equipment Falls Township police are sending.
The vests that were being used by the police are being donated by the city of Yonkers, New York.
The Township Falls police department took 45 vests from the evidence storage area. The equipment is being moved by the Westchester County branch of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.
Many of the equipment is no longer covered by a warranty. Body armor degrades from exposure to the elements like any other product, but its longevity depends on how much it has been used and how it has been stored. The Defense Logistics Agency and its 1033 program transfer surplus or obsolete military gear to police.
The 1033 program was scaled back during Barack Obama's administration, but Donald Trump reversed the restrictions on what police could receive in the new year. The administration of Joe Biden has not imposed restrictions on such transfers.
Police departments sometimes give equipment to U.S. troops before deployment, but the transfers to Ukraine are very unusual, Vice reported. Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, told Vice: "I have no idea how often this is done or who does it."
The Pentagon and the State Department denied that there was a program to send expired helmets to Ukraine, as reported by Vice. The contractor in question appears to have been soliciting donations of its own. The company is carrying out humanitarian efforts, according to its vice president for human resources.
The Pentagon and the State Department both said they had not made any such requests.
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