During Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting on July 1, the Georgia Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) gave the Cornelia Police Department equipment as a demonstration of support for frontline law enforcement.
Three tourniquets, three bulletproof vests, and three doses of Narcan are included in the donation, which was made possible by the Georgia FOP’s Protect the Protectors program. Michael Palmer, a member of the State Vest Committee and a law enforcement professional, delivered the equipment to Georgia FOP President Michael Callahan.
Palmer stated during the presentation that officer safety is a top priority for all of us in law enforcement and that tourniquets and bulletproof vests have been shown to save lives and lessen injuries. It is recommended that all officers wear ballistic vests on a daily basis. More officers in our state will have this additional layer of protection thanks to the efforts of the FOP.
This specific donation was personal, according to Palmer, who has worked directly with numerous Cornelia police throughout the years.
“It is very special to me to be able to show these vests and tourniquets to officers that I have worked with over the years,” he said. All law enforcement personnel must wear safety vests in the modern world, and the FOP is honored to support this endeavor.
Smaller law enforcement organizations who might not have the funds for cutting-edge protective equipment are the subject of the Protect the Protectors campaign. As of May 2025, 109 policemen had been shot while performing their duties across the country, according to the Georgia FOP. Of those, 33 officers have lost their lives, including two in Georgia and 15 from gunshot wounds. To date this year, there have been 21 ambush-style attacks on law police across the nation, underscoring the continued threats that cops must contend with.
Through this program, the Georgia FOP, which is a part of a global organization with over 377,000 members and represents over 7,500 sworn law enforcement members throughout the state, has already provided 1,067 ballistic vests to 182 departments in Georgia.
Go to www.georgiafop.org to learn more about the Georgia Fraternal Order of Police’s Protect the Protectors program.
