Philadelphia police getting $10k grant for ballistics vests

The Philadelphia Police Department is getting a $10,000 grant to purchase ballistics vests in honor of an officer who was slain on duty in 2007.

The Spirit of Blue Foundation is slated to announce the safety-equipment grant Friday afternoon.

A U.S. Department of Justice program provides matching funds for bulletproof vest purchases, police said, and the vests will go to officers in the 35th District, where Officer Charles Cassidy served.

Cassidy was fatally shot when he walked into a robbery-in-progress at a Dunkin' Donuts on West Oak Lane on Oct. 31, 2007.

Funds for the grant are coming from a gift from the Dunkin' Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation.