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ESCANABA -- None of the officers at the Delta County Sheriff's Department have ever been shot.  But they're not taking any chances.

“Whenever I put the uniform on, I put a vest on,” says Detective Daniel Johnson.  “And I believe that goes for every officer in the department, and it should.  You know, whenever you put the uniform on, you're a target."

And a vest can save an officer's life.  An old bulletproof vest from 2004 stopped ten bullets from a 40 caliber pistol.

Still, the vests should be replaced every four to five years, and the 14 new vests that the Sheriff’s Department just received have a special feature:  they can withstand the sting of a taser.

“You know, if the officer is shot with a taser, it won't affect the officer,” said Undersheriff Ed Oswald.  “Officers carry tasers, so anytime you carry something, there's a possibility you might have it removed in a fight."

The newer vests have trauma plates that absorb the shock of a bullet.  They can save lives and buy time if an officer is shot.

“What you're looking at with a vest is, if I get shot in the arm or somewhere a vest isn't, I can keep on going," Oswald said.

Fortunately for officers in the U.P., the bulletproof vests are rarely tested.

“I think it's just that we don't come into contact with many people,” Johnson said, “and maybe the mindset that we know a lot of our community; we know it's not strangers we're walking up to and talking to or arresting."