WHAT: Technology demonstration
WHEN: Wednesday, March 16
TIME: 9 a.m.
LOCATION: Collier County Sheriff’s Office gun range, 4441 70th Ave. N.E., Golden Gate Estates. Directions: Take 40th Street Northeast from Immokalee Road (about one mile east of Everglades Boulevard). Make a left on 70th Avenue Northeast and the range is on the left toward the end of the road.
SUMMARY: The Collier County Sheriff’s Office will host a demonstration March 16 as a service to keep area law enforcement agencies and the public informed about new technology and officer safety.
The event is intended to show the life-saving properties of body armor and will involve live ballistic test shots including explosive devices on state-of-the-art body armor panels.
It will also showcase advancements in counterintelligence and bomb squad technology and will feature demonstrations involving a PAD-1 laser camera blinder and TALON robots.
Dozens of law enforcement agencies from around South Florida have been invited to attend the demonstration to learn about new technology that is currently available.
Representatives from the technology manufacturers, including AMP Research Inc. of Naples, JBIT Inc. of Tucson, Ariz., and QinetiQ of London, England, will be on hand to demonstrate their products’ capabilities.
“Our ultimate mission is to save lives and technology will keep us in that game,” said Cmdr. Robert Lewis of CCSO’s Special Operations. “Anything that will add greater protection to our operators and bomb technicians, well that’s the direction that we want to go.”
Cmdr. Lewis said the Collier County Sheriff’s Office is always looking for new and better ways to protect deputies and the public. Police officer deaths in recent months in Florida and the rest of the country only underscore the need for better officer protection, he said.
“The need is there,” Lewis said.
