Police Badge Stops Bullet, Saves Officer

(Dec. 29) -- Officer Joshua Smith isn't complaining about the heavy new police badges in Oakland, Tenn., anymore.

Not after his patrolman's badge stopped a bullet at point-blank range -- and likely saved his life.

According to WMC-TV, Smith spotted a car weaving across a highway the morning of Christmas Eve. Smith pulled the driver over. First the driver swung at him with a knife, and then he pulled out a gun and shot at Smith.

The bullet struck the badge, then skipped off the officer's protective vest, according to the Oakland News.

"Even if the vest stops the bullet from penetrating," Police Chief Keith Hogwood told the community newspaper, "the blunt-force trauma can be deadly. More than likely, this would have been fatal. Even with the vest."