Monterey Co. Spending $100,00 on Turtle Suits

AP 28jan03

SALINAS, CA -- The Monterey County Sheriff's Office is spending money seized from drug traffickers on "turtle" suits.

They're not joining the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" or trying out for a college mascot's job. The so-called "turtle" suit is the latest protective gear for officers.

The department began buying $100,000 in protective gear two years ago, spurred by a near-riot during a Mardi Gras celebration on Cannery Row in 2001 and by the 1999 World Trade Organization melees in Seattle.

The department was expected to obtain approval Tuesday to spend another $5,100 on maintaining the suits, which cover officers from head to toe.

The money would come from assets seized by the office under court orders from drug dealers, sheriff's spokesman Bill Cassara said.

Sheriff Mike Kanalakis said in a report to supervisors that his deputies need "to become better prepared to handle future crowd control situations, riots and other emergencies."

So far, the protective gear and non-lethal weapons the department has acquired have been used only in training.

"We don't know when it will be used, but in preparation for anything, public safety demands we be on top of it," Cassara said.