This is one of 20 ballistic helmets purchased with donations from the Vestavia Hills Sunrise Rotary Club and Vestavia Hills Police Foundation.

The Vestavia Hills Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics team and patrol division now are better prepared for dangerous situations thanks to donations by two area civic organizations.

The Vestavia Hills Sunrise Rotary Club and Vestavia Hills Police Foundation have donated just under $50,000 to the Police Department this year, enabling Chief Shane Ware to purchase much-needed safety equipment. The new equipment includes 20 ballistic helmets that cost $26,400 ($8,000 from the Sunrise Rotary and $18,440 from the Police Foundation) and two high-level ballistic shields that cost $23,150 ($15,000 from the Sunrise Rotary and $8,150 from the Police Foundation).

“The most important thing is it enhances the safety of everybody on the SWAT team or in a patrol that is using the equipment,” Ware said.

Although the city of Vestavia Hills is deemed one of the safest in Alabama, Ware said it is important that the Police Department be prepared for the unthinkable, such as a school shooting or other mass casualty incident. The new equipment enables the department to respond to those types of emergencies and, hopefully, save lives, he said.

“We have to be able to provide whatever services are necessary, and we have to be able to respond to whatever comes our way,” Ware said. “We have a very well-trained SWAT team of about 20 members, and our Patrol Division is very well trained also, and these types of safety tools allow us to do our job in a safer way and ultimately in a better way.”

Ware said that the Sunrise Rotary Club and the Police Foundation have routinely donated funds to the department for years and that those contributions are factored into the Police Department’s budget each year. However, Ware said the department has “significantly exceeded” the budgeted donations for fiscal 2024, which required him to seek City Council approval for the purchase of the ballistic shields.

Ware said he appreciates the support from Sunrise Rotary Club and the Police Foundation over the years and anticipates that support to continue. For fiscal 2025, which starts Oct. 1, he wants to use contributed funds to buy a sophisticated camera system that allows officers to see underneath doors during investigations and also replace other equipment that has outlived its usefulness.

Ware said the support from these organizations, the City Council and the community at large has contributed to the high quality of the Police Department and its efforts to attract and retain the best officers possible.

“The Police Foundation exists to support us. That’s one of their main platforms, and they do a really great job with that, and so does the Rotary Club,” Ware said. “The donations that are coming in to us from these two organizations are typical of the type of support that we receive routinely from the community.”

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Civic group donations aid police SWAT, patrol officers