BOYKINS—Boykins Town Police Department officers can now walk a little bit more confidently.

That’s because the town’s department was part of a grant that enabled them to get new small caliber bulletproof vests. Beforehand, officers were using their own outdated gear, as well as hand-me-downs.

“For Boykins, this is a great thing,” said Town Sergeant George Brozzo. “Without this grant, who knows when we would have been able to buy new gear?

“In a small town, the budget is tight. So we were happy to get this.”

While he said crime in Boykins isn’t bad, it still feels good to have the equipment in case.

“It makes you feel better,” Brozzo said. “In a small town, you are out by yourself a lot, and backup can be far away. This provides a lot of reassurance.”

The new vests are even fitted to the officers’ measurements, which enables better flexibility.

The town of Boykins has two officers, with Brozzo being the only one who is full time.

“We just added another officer this past year, in response to a couple of incidents,” he said. “The citizens wanted to see more officers.

“The people have also started a neighborhood watch, and they have done a great job supplying us with information.”

The vests are 100 Level IIIA Ballistic vests, which were submitted to more than 500 officers in Virginia and 12 total law enforcement agencies.

The program cost was $245,000. The funding was provided by the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, under the program “Protect the Protectors.”