Ohio cop designs light-up vests to protect officers on the road

(by David Ferrara, Cincinnati Enquirer) – Headlights might be brighter these days but that doesn’t necessarily mean roads are safer for on-foot police officers and other kinds of foot traffic.

Often, officers who direct traffic or are out on the road at night find themselves nearly invisible to passing motorists. Just this March, a Northern Kentucky deputy was sideswiped by a truck on Interstate 71 during a traffic stop.

Officers being struck outside of their vehicles is the second most common traffic-related cause of death, according to a nonprofit that tracks police fatalities. One out of every 10 officers who died in the line of duty in 2024 were struck outside their vehicles.

In 2019, when Don Campbell heard that Colerain Township police veteran Dale Woods was fatally struck by a pickup truck, the Wyoming, Ohio, police officer couldn’t shake the thought something could be done. Woods was wearing a vest and had a flashlight on him, but was still struck at the scene of a crash late one night.

Maybe the neon green reflective vests aren’t cutting it, Campbell thought.

Campbell, a West Side Cincinnati native, was a mechanic-by-trade before deciding to become an officer later in his career. He’d spent 11 years at the Wyoming department when Woods was killed. After his death, he decided to try and refine the standard issue vests he and his partners had been given.

And sometimes, it can be the most minuscule improvement that makes a life-changing difference.

Using duct tape and wire ties to modify a vest in his basement, Campbell affixed LED lights below the vest, letting off a strong glow that is visible to oncoming traffic. Light-up vests are nothing new, but the catch with Campbell’s vests are using stronger lights and placing the LEDs below the vest rather than on-top of it [so they are seen from farther away].

Rather than giving officers a false sense of security with a regular reflective vest, Campbell said, they can actually be seen.

He stuck the vest on one of his partners and gave it a test-run. After four years of going from department to department to make sales, local police in Springfield and West Chester townships bought vests for their officers. Even officers as far as Longview, Texas, and Cedar Bluff, Alabama, have made the investment.

“I was going door to door to make sales and showing people the vest,” Campbell said. “I’d ask for five minutes in a dark room and then I’d be out.”

Campbell enlisted his wife and daughter to help sew and make the vests. He’s shocked he was able to get it all off the ground while still working 12-hour, full-time shifts as an officer.

Now, Campbell’s vests are getting the green light from Cincinnati-based national retailer Flying Cross.

The company, a brand of the Fechheimer Brothers Company, has more than a century of experience in creating uniforms. “It’s a great merger of innovation and opportunity,” said Denny Bogard, Executive Vice President for Fechheimer.

Flying Cross will further refine Campbell’s vests and introduce them to a network of departments they work with across the country, increasing its reach. And they’ll take over the manufacturing, giving some much-needed relief to Campbell and his family.

Distracted driving extends beyond law enforcement, too. There were 1,433 injuries from work zone-related crashes in 2023, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. Both Ohio and Kentucky laws require that drivers move a lane over from stopped cars with flashing lights, including construction and emergency vehicles.

Campbell’s vests will be available to anyone through Flying Cross, including security teams, crossing guards and construction workers, but he’s focused on getting the word out to his fellow first responders right now.

“All the different places the vest has been, it blows my mind,” Campbell said.

Published at Cincinnati Enquirer on April 13. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.