Police Gear and more …

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

Caveat: I am not a police officer; I have never been a police officer; I do not profess that I know what it is like to do the job of a police officer and I would not want anyone to even consider this article is accurate or even correct BUT it is my opinion and perception as uninformed as it may or may not be. Take it as an effort to get others who have no clue to give some consideration as to the huge responsibility involved in Police work. 

Police Officers wear: 

• A uniform.
• A Bulletproof Vest
• A duty belt: firearm in holster; magazine pouch with full mags; flashlight; Taser; Baton; Handcuffs; Pepper Spray; key holder with keys; disposable gloves; knife in knife pouch; Radio and radio pouch, etc.

Police wear a lot and for those of us use to the martial art uniform and the freedom of movement they provide you can try to imagine the restrictive aspects of wearing and carrying all that gear. Add in that they need to wear it a certain way for ease of use for retrieval under stress conditions, etc. then you begin to get a better understanding of how that changes the way they do things required in the job.

Add in coats and rain gear that cover all this up where an officer may be required to retrieve things along with all the other conditions necessary to do the job then you will understand the difficulties involved with protection and service of a police officer. 

All that gear must be practiced enough so that when an officer needs a piece of equipment they can retrieve it quickly because fumbling around means they are not focused on the threat but on the gear and that ain’t good. Add in that if they are not thoroughly familiar, practiced, efficient and proficient in gear retrieval and usage they could pull the wrong gear making things even more difficult. 

Now, imagine a strict set of rules on what equipment that you are required to carry and how you can use them and to what extent with no slippage, no allowance or no leeway in what, when, where and how you can use that equipment along with adrenal stress conditions brought on by criminals and crowds not to mention or forget to mention media coverage by anyone with a phone where escalation to dangerous violent situations is more often reached than not you get a dangerous mix that effects actions and levels taken to do the job. 

Here is the rub folks, I can see all this and I am not a police officer nor have I had to deal with or do anything that involved so much often requiring decisions make in an instance while maintaining a presence in the “Police Policy Square (thanks Marc MacYoung, I kinda borrowed your square analogy)!”

I would then like to suggest you add in a scenario where people come to a scene involving police with agenda’s that are meant to force officers to break with policy so that they can promote such agenda’s as Police Hate and so on. Where protestors deliberately and inadvertently present attack postures and perceptions of higher levels of force that would mean grave bodily harm or even death so that police will react as they are trained for our safety then record that as police brutality and so on. People and situations often put Officers in positions they fail to realize put not just the officers in harms way but themselves in harms way. Then they assume the officers, when it goes bad, are going to keep them safe and secure ….

None of us have even an inkling of what it takes to do the job, do it safely and to remain safe, secure and alive but the Police do and they do it well even under the most stressful and dangerous circumstances most of us could never imagine.  

Now, imagine ever single thing you say or do during your work day is scrutinized, critiqued and criticized by everyone who holds superior positions over you then add in the political superiors who have no clue about conflict, violence and police work holding sway over you and your job who change their views and requirements according to any given moment of political influences, now go out and protect and serve. 

Very few of us can imagine the difficulty of doing such a job and yet we scream and shout of our perceptions of injustices done so we can self-sooth and feel good about ourselves while making it more difficult each moment, each day, each week and so on for Officers to do the job. 

Ask yourself, “Who is the real danger out there? Who is really making life more dangerous for all of us? Who will be there for you when you need them the most if we continue down this path?” Ain’t life a hoot? 

REMEMBER: If a police officer is present and requires your participation in their work, remain polite and comply with their requests and instructions. Make everyone’s day. 

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