UVALDE, Texas — Uvalde police will soon have close to thirty ballistic shields to use in the event of an emergency situation.
Last year on May 24, officers only had one shield that was strong enough to stop bullets from the gunman's AR-15 style rifle during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary.
A new report presented to the Uvalde City Council on Tuesday night also revealed the trainings officers have received since the tragedy that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez presented the list to city leaders. The day of the massacre, his department was one of several agencies to respond and later, receive harsh criticism for waiting more than an hour to breach the classroom and kill the gunman.
After the tragedy, Uvalde police purchased a rifle rated shield, which officers said they didn't have to safely confront the gunman immediately.
On Tuesday night, council members approved a motion to proceed with the purchase of eight additional shields to bring the total of shields owned up to 29.
Other items purchased over the last year include rifle rated helmets, dispatch consoles, patrol vehicles, hand held radios, door breaching tools and several other items.
"We have five sets of those [door breaching tools] and those are out in the field as we speak," said Chief Rodriguez.
Items were purchased using city funds or grants like Operation Lone Star, which awards money to Texas cities fighting criminal activity related to border crossings. Only one item was donated which was a telecommunications upgrade provided by EVANS.
Chief Rodriguez mentioned officers have attended at least 10 different trainings. He said the most important course taken to date was called Tape-It Training, which covers evidence management.
"Those officers are taught the numbers of days we have to hold to certain evidence," he said.
Chief Rodriguez said training is ongoing for officers. The department is also working on getting certain officers certified as instructors to keep future training in-house.
Council members also approved a donation of mobile radios from Uvalde police to Uvalde EMS and Uvalde CISD police.