Norcross PD Gets Air Conditioning for Body Armor

The Norcross Police Department was in for a cool surprise Friday morning: body armor air conditioning.

Meant to cool off officers wearing bullet-proof vests, six flexible cooling tubes were donated to the department through the help of the Norcross Police Department Foundation.

While sitting in a car, one end of the tube attaches to an air vent, and the cold air travels through the tube to the other end, which is placed inside the officer's vest.

Norcross Officer D.E. Butynski said that the air conditioning alone inside the cars are oftentimes not enough in the Atlanta heat.

"When it gets even a little bit hot outside, you get very warm on the inside," he said.

After trying out the device, Butynski commented that he still felt the cold air underneath the vest even after he took it off.

The vests were made possible by National Night Out sponsorships, acquired by the . Arlene Beckles, president of the foundation, found out about the air conditioning contraption at last year's Independence Day event when she saw a Norcross officer who had purchased one out of pocket.

She was amazed after trying it out herself, so she started asking other officers if they wanted one.

"We had about 12 officers who were interested, but we didn't have money," said Beckles. "Now that we started the foundation, I'm able to get some funds to come through and sponsor [it]."

Beckles and Barbara Karnitz, a board member for the NPDF, presented the CoolCops to the department Friday morning.

"I know it's appreciated," said Norcross Police Chief Warren Summers. "We appreciate all you ladies do [in the Norcross PD Foundation]."