Officers of the State College and Ferguson Township police departments may be breathing a sigh of relief now that a five-month wait for new body armor is over.

For at least two years, State College police officers have patrolled under the protection of body armor that was deemed defective in August 2005, State College police Sgt. Mark Argiro said.

The National Institute of Justice found that 60 percent of the vests containing the chemical compound Zylon were penetrated by at least one round during a six-shot test series, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release last August.

"They found that Zylon deteriorates under heat and moisture faster than they thought," State College police Cpl. Rick Ososkie said.

The federal government has responded by creating a supplemental grant to pay for half of the cost it takes to re-outfit policemen, said Chris Tucker, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. John E. Peterson, R-Pa.

"The congressman wants better equipment for those who protect and serve the county," Tucker said.

Diane Conrad, Ferguson Township police chief, said she was nervous about having her officers policing in defective vests.

"I'm sure they're relieved to get the vests," she said.

Conrad said the amount of time it took to receive the vests was also nerve-racking.

"We ordered them in September," she said. "We received the vests in January."

Conrad attributed the long wait for the new protective gear to the large order she had to place.

"Police departments do not usually order so many vests at one time," she said.

She added that all the vests are fitted to the officer and do not come in standard sizes.

"Normally, we only have to order a new vest when we get a new officer," she said.

Conrad said it would have hurt the proposal for the departments to get the new vests if the federal government had not stepped in and supplied the additional funds to help pay to replace the old ones.

"I would have submitted it to the budget," she said. "But I can't tell you if it would have passed."

On the other hand, Ososkie said, the State College Police Department did not feel unsafe in the vests that were found to be defective.

"We were pretty confident in what we were wearing," Ososkie said. "Although the vests were not certified by the government, they were still under warranty from the manufacturers."