The San Juan Police Department received grant money to help pay for a new 500 pound, $26,000 ballistic shield.
The shield is designed to keep police safe during a hostage situation and even a shootout.
There are many different components to this shield.
It has three openings, protected by several inches of glass, to help the officers behind the shield see what's coming ahead.
Down below there is an opening for a rifle to fit through so that no officer has to leave the confines of the protected barrier.
"When it comes to fitting through doors,” said Jose Flores with San Juan PD. “Let's say you have an active shooter at a school and need to check out a classroom, it will fit through a standard door size."
Flores said once the officers are through the door, all they have to is push the sides back open and continue on.
When the shield is open, they can comfortable fit about four people behind it.
San Juan police told Action 4 News that this shield will come in handy during hostage negotiations and it is never recommended to negotiate face to face unless they have too.
The ballistic shield can be utilized by any agency in the valley and is part of law enforcement’s Emergency Regional Response Team.
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