New Body Armor Recall

 

SAFETY ADVISORY & REPLACEMENT NOTICE


             · SECOND CHANCE ARMOR “MON-II FEM 207220” (SOLD AFTER 7/26/05)
             · SECOND CHANCE ARMOR “MON-IIIA FEM 208010” (SOLD AFTER 7/26/05)


JACKSONVILLE, Florida - April 1, 2009 - Effective immediately, Second Chance Protective Products, LLC (“Second Chance”) is initiating a body armor replacement program covering the two above-listed models of Second Chance Armor female vests sold after July 26, 2005.

These two models were originally certified by Second Chance Body Armor (“SCBA”) in 2002 under NIJ Standard 0101.04. SCBA is an unrelated company that filed for bankruptcy in 2004. On July 26, 2005, we acquired the SCBA assets out of bankruptcy, including these two vest models.

Recent laboratory tests conducted by Second Chance have indicated that these two vest models do not consistently meet applicable compliance testing protocols under NIJ Standard 0101.04. While we are not aware of any field failures for either model, and both models have performed satisfactorily in recent “street threat” testing using small size vests, we are not satisfied that they meet our high quality standards.

Accordingly, out of abundance of caution, we are recalling and replacing all vests sold after July 26, 2005 at no cost to the end user or agencies.

We have notified the National Institute of Justice (“NIJ”) about this body armor replacement program, and will be contacting affected dealers, agencies, and users in the next several days. Under this program, affected users will be offered a replacement vest or cash refund. Detailed instructions will be provided with our communications.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this replacement program. However, our priority is the safety of law enforcement officers and we are committed to providing only those products that meet our high quality standards.



PRODUCT ADVISORY & REPLACEMENT NOTICE

· SECOND CHANCE ARMOR “329-MON-II FEM 306020” Sizes SMALL and MEDIUM Only (SOLD AFTER 7/26/05)
· SECOND CHANCE ARMOR “329-MON-IIA FEM 306020” Sizes SMALL and MEDIUM Only (SOLD AFTER 7/26/05)


JACKSONVILLE, Florida - April 1, 2009
- Effective immediately, Second Chance Protective Products, LLC (“Second Chance”) is initiating a body armor replacement program covering vests in sizes Small and Medium of the two above- listed models of Second Chance Armor female vests sold after July 26, 2005.

These two models were originally certified by Second Chance Body Armor (“SCBA”) in 2003 under NIJ Standard 0101.04. SCBA is an unrelated company that filed for bankruptcy in 2004. On July 26, 2005, we acquired the SCBA assets out of bankruptcy, including these two vest models.

As a result of an extensive quality control audit, we discovered that stitching instructions for these models were incorrectly applied to size Small and Medium vest panels. Due to the smaller width panels, size Small and Medium vests were constructed with fewer than the four (4) outboard stitch lines dictated by the certified models’ construction specifications.

While ballistic laboratory testing conducted by Second Chance indicates that the size Small and Medium vests perform satisfactorily under NIJ Standard 0101.04, this stitching variance remains a technical deviation from the construction specifications. Based on this non-compliant construction, we have decided to recall and replace the size Small and Medium vests of these models that were sold after July 26, 2005 at no cost to the end user or agencies. Large and Extra-Large size vests of these models are not being recalled and replaced under this vest exchange program.

We have notified the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) about this non-compliant construction and this body armor replacement program, and will be contacting affected dealers, agencies, and users in the next several days. Under this program, affected users will be offered a replacement vest or cash refund. Detailed instructions will be provided with our communications.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this replacement program. However, we are committed to providing only those products that meet our high quality standards.

For further information, please contact the Second Chance Vest Exchange Program Hotline at (866) 815-2914 or by email at vestexchange@secondchance.com.

If you require additional information, feel free to contact either attorney David Cohen, of Carr & Palmer, LLP, at (404) 442-9000 dcohen@carrpalmer.com or SSPBA Senior Staff Attorney Grady K. Dukes. Mr. Cohen was heavily involved in our previous civil litigations against numerous body armor manufactures.