Madison County Sheriff’s Department vehicles to get bulletproof windshields

All sheriff’s vehicles in Madison County will soon be upgraded to bulletproof windshields.  As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, this comes after the shooting death of an Elwood police officer last year.

Last July, Elwood Officer Noah Shahnavaz died in his police cruiser during a traffic stop when a suspect got out of his car and started shooting.  This year, Elwood Police is upgrading all its vehicles with bulletproof windshields.

It’s a move Madison County also wants to make.

At a livestreamed Madison County Council meeting, Elwood Police Chief Jason Brizendine said the change brought stress levels down for officers.

“They just have the confidence to know that they have that extra few seconds for their brain to catch up with their physical ability and deal with the situation, with these windshields.”

Madison County council members voted unanimously to approve the about $122,000 expense for the department’s 40 vehicles at its February meeting.