ISLAMABAD: The United States has provided thousands of protective gear items worth $23 million to different police and law enforcement departments in Pakistan during four months ending September 2017, according to US Embassy. According to an official statement issued on Monday, the US Embassy’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Section had provided nine Pakistani police organisations more than $23 million in state-of-the-art lightweight protective gear equipment between June and September 2017. The INL Section had provided 30,500 bulletproof vests and more than 27,000 ballistic helmets to protect police officers as they fight terrorism and crime, it added. The police agencies that have received assistance from the US include all four provincial police departments; Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Frontier Constabulary; Federally Administered Tribal Areas Levies; the National Highways and Motorway Police; and the National Police Academy. This assistance now brings the total number of protective gear assistance since 2009 to more than 53,000 bulletproof vests and almost 47,000 ballistic helmets. “The Pakistani Police make sacrifices every day to carry out their duties and to keep their communities safe,” the statement quoted INL Director Gregory Schiffer as saying. “Both in the United States and Pakistan, we depend on our police to protect our people, and we will continue to stand together with the people of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and the commitment to stability and justice in Pakistan,” he added. Bulletproof vests and helmets are critical in improving police operational capacity and saving officers’ lives as they respond to threats from heavily armed groups, including terrorists, militants, and drug traffickers. Across Pakistan, police officers are often targeted by criminal and terrorist groups. According to the National Police Bureau, more than 6,000 police have been killed in the line of duty in Pakistan in the last 15 years. Published in Daily Times, December 12th 2017.