For law enforcement, safety gear can take many forms. Some equipment—such as body armor—is of obvious and paramount importance. But many other kinds of gear play a role in officer safety, even though these tools may carry a lower profile than those directly associated with saving lives in the line of fire.
The right communications equipment, for example, can be a matter of life and death for officers, as can the day-to-day equipment that is sometimes unintentionally viewed as an afterthought by some departments—potentially increasing risks for officers.
“Law enforcement has always been a dangerous job, but maybe they do not always have all the tools to do the job safely,” said Seth Leyman, president of Communications-Applied Technology (C-AT), a Reston, Virginia, audio communications firm.1
Keeping Officers Informed and Connected
Reliable radio systems are indispensable in high-pressure situations. C-AT produces the ICRI Radio Interoperability Gateway System not only to connect different municipal, state, and federal radios, but also to connect telephones, VoIP devices, and other communication devices. The system’s capabilities include connections in scenarios over long distances or in areas with traditionally poor reception.
“It provides a connection between multiple agencies,” said Leyman. “It could be a benign scenario, or it could be a disaster scenario like an active shooter. The environment for radios is not always perfect. Our equipment is used extensively as a repeater to connect your own agency with itself, but you could be [at a distance].”
The ICRI requires minimal power, making it unnecessary for users to find an electrical outlet to power up the device. “You can use AA batteries instead of worrying about where or how to charge it,” Leyman said.
A reliable system that connects different radios from different agencies improves not only the safety of all first responders by enabling deconfliction, allowing collaboration, and sharing key information (such as whether a suspect who has evaded police capture is armed), but also the safety of civilians those responders are attempting to reach by improving police response or facilitating access to an active crime scene.
“In many cases, the agencies are told that if you can’t communicate with each other, then you have to back out of a situation, because without that communication you can be in jeopardy very quickly,” Leyman said. “If there’s an active shooter scenario, you have to communicate outside, then you have to go inside and monitor communications both inside and outside the building.”
Photo courtesy of DSM Safety Products.
Effective communication happens in any number of ways. In certain situations, an officer’s uniform can become a powerful platform for communication.
To illustrate, DSM Safety Products, based in Sparks, Nevada, offers the “Don’t Shoot Me” banner.2 Designed by a former SWAT sergeant, the lightweight banner identifies non-uniformed officers as police, to avoid mistaken engagement by uniformed officers during an active shooter or similar incident. The goal of the banner is to prevent tragedies that can occur when non-uniformed officers are mistaken as suspects or perpetrators. There are also similar banners for medical and security staff, among other personnel who might be on scene.
Custom Helmets to Increase Officer Safety
Many police departments regard some safety gear, such as helmets, with an almost literal one-size-fits-all sense. At Super Seer Corporation, based in Evergreen, Colorado, expertly trained craftsmen custom-make 12 different helmet models for police use, designed for situations ranging from motorcycle units to mounted officers.
“We are a helmet manufacturer,” said Super Seer Vice President Kevin Smith. “We make each helmet to order. Our minimum order number is 1, not 1,000. These are made by hand…. They are personalized, and you can customize them practically endlessly.”3
The first helmet safety issue that Super Seer addresses is fit. While other helmet manufacturers use padding, Super Seer uses hard shells to ensure each helmet fits more snugly and over the long term.
“The one-size-fits-all mentality is something police departments accept, but it’s not a good mentality,” Smith said. “A helmet can rotate around on you if it’s not properly fitted.”
The second safety issue is that different situations have different helmet needs. In other words, purchasing a helmet with a certain rating is not necessarily optimal for different scenarios, even if that rating is high.
“If your main threat is rocks, bricks, or bottles, you’d want a riot helmet,” Smith explained. “A ballistic helmet can obviously stop gunfire, but it is not as good at defending against rocks, bricks, or bottles. If you fall from a horse, that’s different from falling from a motorcycle. We take a look at your specific threats and threat levels and assign a helmet accordingly.”
Super Seer offers different models for motorcycles, mounted, riot and tactical, and corrections environments.
Fitting Like a Glove
In some cases, gloves are an afterthought. However, inferior gloves can leave officers vulnerable to bloodborne diseases, dangerous drugs, and other substances.
“Lots of police departments just go to big-box stores to buy gloves,” said James Hull, president of Summit Glove in Minerva, Ohio. “But our glove is strong enough for law enforcement.”4
Standard disposable gloves can develop tiny holes that can undermine their protective capabilities. But Summit’s gloves are examination grade and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The gloves feature extra thickness in the palm and fingertips and wick away moisture to help officers maintain their grip even in wet conditions. The gloves are also heat and cut resistant.
“We’ve taken high-quality formulas and made them applicable to law enforcement,” Hull said. “A lot of times, gloves would tear, and people didn’t even understand that there was a problem with quality.”
Hull, who recently began selling gloves to the Boston, Massachusetts, Police Department, pointed to crime scenes or vehicle collisions as areas where strong gloves are needed to protect officers from injury or disease. The ongoing crisis around opioids like fentanyl—which can be absorbed through the skin—also increases the need for higher-quality gloves.
Hull acknowledged that Summit gloves are more expensive than standard disposable gloves, but he made the case that the high-quality gloves are worthy investments. “There really hasn’t been a standard, high-quality product that law enforcement officers have been able to utilize,” Hull said. “It’s not low cost, but it is high quality.”
For more extreme situations, the Safariland Group, headquartered in Ontario, California, designed the Defender II glove. A double layer of goat skin and steel-reinforced knuckles provide durability and abrasion resistance. The Defender II also has design elements that allow for maximum dexterity.5
Safariland offers several different gloves, but one of the more novel models created with safety in mind is the Task High Viz glove. Available in bright orange or yellow, the gloves were developed for increased safety and effectiveness in traffic management and similar duties, particularly in lower-light conditions.
Breathe Easy
Gas masks and respirators might not be used every day, but when the time comes for officers to don them, it is critical that they work properly. Sirchie, based in Youngsville, North Carolina, is well known as a leader in crime scene and forensic solutions. Among other equipment for law enforcement, the company offers a range of gas masks, respirators, and filters.6
One such respirator, the Avon C50 Air Purifying Respirator is certified for use in chemical, biological, radiological, and nu-clear defense (CBRN) situations. The purifier offers high protection, a good field of vision, and superior comfort, according to company information.
Another model, the Avon PC50 Air Purifying Respirator is not certified for use in CBRN scenarios, but provides protection against contaminated particles, gases, and vapors. It’s mainly designed for corrections, riot control, border patrol, and similar situations. Different CBRN filters are available for both models.
Safety gear is a priority for all agencies, but as discussed herein, it’s important to look beyond the obvious protective gear to the details, such as communication tools and tactical accessories, to ensure officers are protected to the fullest in any situation they might encounter. ♦
Notes:
1 Seth Leyman (president, Communications-Applied Technology), telephone interview, April 15, 2018.
2 DSM Safety Products.
3 Kevin Smith (vice president, Super Seer Corporation), telephone interview, April 10, 2018.
4 James Hull (president, Summit Glove), telephone interview, April 16, 2018.
5 The Safariland Group.
6 Sirchie.
Please cite as
Scott Harris, “Getting the Details Right Is Key for Safety Gear,” Product Feature, The Police Chief 85, no. 6 (June 2018): 46–48.
