SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

The men fired handguns at several materials protected by Kevlar. The material changed the shape of the bullets. It seemed a good candidate to help defend police officers and soldiers.

Mister Shubin was able to gain financial help for a field experiment. Thousands of police officers in many cities began to wear the vests. But Mister Montanarelli said it was difficult to get companies to make them. The companies feared legal action if the vests should fail.

BOB DOUGHTY:

Then came December, nineteen seventy-five. A gunman shot at a policeman in Seattle, Washington. One bullet hit the officer's hand. But a bullet fired very close to the policeman struck his chest.

The officer survived. The bullet did not enter his body. He felt good enough to protest being kept in a hospital that night to make sure all was well. The incident helped get manufacturers to stop worrying about legal action. They began making the vests.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

Today, about three thousand people are members of the Kevlar Survivors' Club. DuPont and the International Association of Chiefs of Police organized the exclusive club. All the members have escaped injury or death because long ago, a chemist named Stephanie Kwolek produced something unexpected.

BOB DOUGHTY:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty.