To establish our path forward, we really need to look backwards first to see the unique parallel trajectory of lifesaving products designed to make LEO’s jobs safer.
On the evening of June 17th, 1969, pizzeria owner Richard Davis pulled up to a dark, eerie house in Detroit, Michigan, to deliver a pizza. Davis stood on the sidewalk, unsure of how to proceed.
“Did you guys order a pizza?” he yelled out towards the house.
“Yeah, bring it around back,” a mysterious voice replied.
Davis, who always carried a handgun, walked around the building with the pizza. He met three men, one of whom was pointing a handgun at him.
Davis immediately pulled out his handgun and began firing, scoring four hits before fleeing the scene with his life intact, but not before suffering two shots to himself.
He miraculously survived the incident.
The harrowing experience made him leave the pizza business behind. He felt there “had to be a better way” to protect people from gunshots and committed to finding the answer.
And that’s how the revolutionary bulletproof vest was born.
After endless trial and error, Davis created a suitable, effective, and practical body armor and sought to bring it to the law enforcement community.
It took some convincing of law enforcement agency professionals. Davis went so far as to travel the country, shooting himself while wearing his vest again and again as a real-world demonstration to prove the value and effectiveness of his bulletproof vests.
Years later, it has become the standard for law enforcement officers across the United States. To date, more than 3,100 law enforcement officers' lives have been saved by body armor since the mid-1970s, as documented by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)/DuPont Kevlar Survivors' Club.
That’s a lot of police officer lives.
The Next Revolution of Law Enforcement Safety is Here
The development of the bulletproof vest was a game-changer for police officers in the field. As you read this now, the law enforcement community stands at the crossroads of the next revolution of police safety – protective ballistic glass for police cruisers.
In 2023, there were nearly 500 assaults with firearms against cops, significantly more than double the amount from just 10 years earlier.
What’s worse is that more brazen, violent attacks involving high-powered weaponry against police officers have been on the rise.
There has been a statistically consistent rise in ambush-style attacks against police officers. Although the bulletproof vest has been effective in saving lives outside of the patrol vehicle, they are not always effective against attacks on often unsuspecting LEO’s seated in their vehicles.
An additional layer of protection is now needed to combat this rise of attacks, especially against police officers who are simply sitting in their patrol car writing a report, taking a break, pursuing high-risk suspects, completing felony traffic stops, or responding to “fake calls” specifically to lure officers into an ambush zone.
And no one knows that more than Sgt. Keith Bitz of the Leon County Sheriff’s office in Texas.
On May 31st, 2025, Sgt. Bitz was on patrol when dispatch called over the radio to issue details of a 911 call received for a domestic disturbance.
Sgt. Bitz, a 31-year veteran of law enforcement, was already nearby and responded to the call.
Little did he know, it was a pre-planned ambush.
“The 911 caller called in a false emergency just so that an officer would respond. The caller, who we later found out was a highly-trained marksman, planned on shooting and killing whichever cop showed up, and that happened to be me,” Sgt. Bitz told LET.
When Sgt. Bitz arrived, his experience taught him to position the vehicle tactically.
“It’s muscle memory for me to park my vehicle in a manner that provides a barrier between me and the house,” he said.
This tactic proved to save his life. As Sgt. Bitz exited his vehicle, he immediately noticed a shooter.
“I saw a male not too far away with an assault rifle pointed right at me. I jumped right back in my vehicle and prayed to God,” he said.
His prayer was answered.
The shooter fired eight rounds, all direct hits to the windshield. But the armored glass prevented every shot from penetrating the vehicle and hitting and killing Sgt. Bitz.
He is still patrolling the Texas highways to this day and credits that to the ballistic glass.
“If it wasn’t for that armored windshield, I would not be here today,” he said.
Much like Davis and his pizza delivery incident, Sgt. Bitz is now a strong advocate for the life-saving value that comes with protective glass in patrol vehicles.
The Plan to Equip Vehicles and Save LEO Lives
We took the time to reach out to Thomas Sabo, Director of Marketing for Dana Safety Supply (DSS). The majority of DSS Management and Sales personnel are either current or ex law enforcement officers, and are staunch LEO advocates and supporters with one simple priority – to save LEO lives!
They have their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in the streets where police officers roam. In recent years, they’ve noticed a troubling trend.
“The National FOP publishes monthly ‘Officers Shot And Killed In The Line Of Duty’ report. That report is also tracking the continually increasing trend of ambush style shootings. It’s a literal epidemic of these attacks, just like Sgt. Bitz experienced. A patrol vehicle is now not only a mobile office, but also a target. Something’s got to change,” Thomas said.
Dana Safety Supply’s seasoned leadership and team couldn’t stand idly by knowing they had the capabilities to solve this troubling trend. They have spent countless hours and made significant investments with tier one manufacturers in the ballistic glass and door panel space to put together a viable, practical solution to stop the killing of cops.
“The need for developing a package of vehicle up-armoring for police cruisers at the patrol level was becoming so apparent. Every time we turned around, there were these ‘ambush-style’ shootings and people getting shot in their cars!” Thomas said with a distinct tone of frustration.
Like Davis’ body armor, DSS Leadership saw the need and went through significant trial and error to make it “just right”. They needed to put together a protection system that was practical in weight, affordable, and effective against the high-powered weapons.
And they did. To date, they have installed nearly 10,000 packages nationwide!
“Once you put one of these packages together - the windshield, two side windows, and two door panels, you're only adding about 200lbs to the vehicle. The windshield is thicker than the side windows, but is still optically clear, “ he said.
The Dana Safety Supply Team built an incredible family of products they call BallisTech that is starting to take off across the country.
Even better, they structured their company’s entire system to help walk any agency ready to equip their vehicles through from start to finish.
“We streamlined the entire process to make it simple, effective, and actually significantly more affordable than older systems. A BallisTech system can be customized from the entire package down to individual components; they can be installed into existing patrol vehicles or included in a complete new vehicle upfit that can be done in any one of our 54 locations nationwide,” Thomas said.
He continued, “Our job is to make the process of protecting officers as easy and affordable as possible. We’re on a mission to make this the standard in every patrol vehicle. Our industry tends to be reactionary in nature, and too many times we wait for tragedy to strike before we make a change. That’s got to change.”
And he is right - our law enforcement community deserves it.
To get started or to inquire about the products and services, visit www.danasafetysupply.com and follow their Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram , YouTube & TikTok social media pages.
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