ABBEVILLE — The Georgia Fraternal Order of Police donated eight ballistic vests to the Wilcox County Sheriff’s Office on Friday.

The vests, provided through the FOP’s “Operation Protect Our Protectors” ballistic vest program, were presented to Wilcox County Sheriff Stacy C. Bloodsworth by Guy Fussell of the Georgia Fraternal Order of Police.

“Operation Protect Our Protectors” is designed to donate ballistic vests to law enforcement agencies across Georgia, specifically to those agencies that can’t afford to purchase the vests.

“Officer safety is a very important issue to all of us in law enforcement, and the ballistic vest has been proven to save lives and reduce injuries,” said Fussell. “Every officer should wear a ballistic vest everyday. The FOP is working to ensure that more officers within our state have this extra level of security.”

The Georgia FOP represents 4,200 law enforcement members across the state and is part of the nation’s largest law enforcement organization, with more than 318,000 members nationwide. The FOP is committed to achieving better working conditions and benefits for its members and to providing quality service to the public.