Bullet Proof Vest

A bullet proof vest, more accurately called a bullet resistant vest, is a protective garment that is designed to protect the wearer from the impact of bullets and shrapnel. Unlike body armor, which is made from hard plates, vests are made from soft materials and are designed to be lightweight, flexible, and comfortable. Many people in the field of law enforcement wear bullet proof vests on the job to protect themselves.

The earliest form of body armor designed to resist bullets was developed in the 1500s, when soldiers realized that their traditional plate armor was not up to the recently introduced concept of the gun. As early as 1919, several people applied for patents for designs that resisted bullets, but the real breakthrough in this technology came in the late 20th century, with the development of extremely strong and durable fibers like Kevlar®. Kevlar® and similar artificial fibers allowed companies to manufacture soft, flexible, and extremely strong vests that offered protection from bullets.

The science behind the bullet proof vest is pretty simple. When a bullet hits the vest, it encounters multiple layers of very strong, criss-crossed fibers. These fibers slow the progress of the bullet and distribute its force, causing the bullet to flatten out and stop in the layers of the vest before it can reach the body of the wearer. Typically, the wearer experiences some blunt force trauma caused by the impact, but this is much better than a bullet wound.

There are various types of bulletproof shields, modified for specific tasks.

Generally rectangular in shape, these protective shields have, until recently, been used to provide ballistic protection to law enforcement SWAT tactical team members during dynamic entry situations and approaches towards potentially armed individuals. While SWAT already wear heavier armor than regular officers, their protection usually only covers their head, chest, and other vitals, leaving their arms and legs exposed. The ballistic shield is most necessary in situations where the SWAT team has little or no cover.

Although SWAT teams make use of long guns in tactical operations the shooter must understand that the shield will only protect what is behind and below it, which is often best accomplished with a handgun.

Modern bulletproof shields are examined against the U.S. government ballistic protection rating standard, NIJ-Std 0108.01. They typically rate Threat Level Type IIIA protection which can stop most handguns (9mm and .45), however some manufacturers’ shields cover IIIA, IIIB (Rifles) and IV, which stops armor-piercing rifle rounds.

Bulletproof shields are also certified to many international standards where different ballistic threats are identified. Subsonic and supersonic rounds found around the world vary considerably from those found in the US and police and military clients have need to be protected from the threats within their jurisdiction. Tencate, United Shield, Mehler, ISBI and MKU are some notable providers of ballistic shields rated to international threat levels

Anti Riot Shields and Police Batons at Protesters’ Wedding in Ukraine

In many ways, this was a wedding like any other. A nervous bride having her make-up done, an anxious groom awaiting his first glimpse of the bridal gown, a uniformed, jack-booted, honour guard forming an arch of anti riot shields and police batons…

Ukrainian anti-government protesters Bogdan, 21, and Yulia, 25, got married yesterday in a Kiev municipal building occupied by demonstrators.

Love has blossomed among the firebrands manning the barricades in the divided capital. The protest camp on Independence Square has seen several proposals and weddings.

A protester told AP: “People here meet more new people, make new friends, get together. Get married, and sleep around, so to speak. Life goes on, even here in these conditions.”

IBTimesUK shares Bogdan and Irina’s wedding album and wishes them well for the future.

Spain refuses to sell anti riot suit to Venezuela

MADRID, April 4 (UPI) — The Spanish government has decided it will no longer sell riot-control equipment to Venezuela.

According to Spanish government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, a government commission comprised of the foreign affairs, defense, interior, and commerce ministers agreed in March to suspend the anti riot suit sales.

The sale of military equipment to another country, one of the officials said, is reviewed by an inter-ministerial government commission that takes into account “the internal stability of the nation destined” to receive the military equipment.

In 2013, Spain sold $3.5 million worth of riot-control equipment to Venezuela.

Anti-government demonstrations began in Venezuela in February, demanding an end to goods shortages, inflation, and high crime. Protesters have accused President Maduro’s government of responding violently to their opposition, with at least 20 killed during protests.

One of those killed, the Spanish foreign ministry reported, included dual Spanish-Venezuelan citizen Wilder Carballo Amayo, who died in February from a gunshot wound to the head.

 

Xi’an Public Security anti-riot vehicles equipped with one million yuan on terror

During the small holiday “51”, Xi’an Public Security Bureau to spend more than one million yuan Yanta purchase specialized anti-terrorism and other anti-riot vehicles will be stationed at the station, tourist attractions crowded place.

This car is a riot against terrorism Shaanxi first car, a police anti-terrorism is the only anti-riot vehicles, the vehicle can be explosion-proof and anti-chemical attack; body side has a 9-hole shot, the roof has a special transmitter can emit tear gas.

Despite the huge volume of the car, but act quickly. Design speed of the vehicle is 140 km / h, and bulletproof tires, even tires were hit, you can then continue to travel 100 kilometers.

Its biggest advantage is that you can be an effective counter-terrorism positions to advance to the closest distance of criminals, effectively curb other crimes.

The Patrol Ready duty police belt

I’ve carried a gun and ancillary related police equipment on my waist daily for somewhere around 30 years. It started with handcuffs, flashlight and baton as I started working uniform security while attending college. I started carrying with a Model 19 Smith & Wesson revolver, two speed strips (later progressing to speed loaders) once I attended a State certified security training program. My duty equipment was brown basket-weave and leather. Sworn in as a Deputy Sheriff after graduating from the Basic Law Enforcement Academy I bought my own black basket-weave rig belt, holster and equipment which was worn by my Sheriff’s Office and most LE agencies in my area. Velcro was new to the scene and my trouser belt/duty police belt used the hook and pile material as a way to affix the duty police belt to your waist. I had purchased a new Model 66 Smith (stainless.357 magnum loaded with .38 special rounds) which was carried in a Bianchi model 27K breakfront holster. Breakfront rigs were all the rage back then as a means to retain your pistol on the street (prior to that “Border Patrol” style holsters were in vogue which only featured a strap across the top of your revolver or at most a thumb-break). Funny thing about breakfront holsters is that they were more secure from the rear. The partial open or in my case fully open holster front actually made getting the gun out from the front easier. The last holster I purchased for my Model 66 was a Gordon Davis Leather Company thumb-break which was by far the best I’d ever owned (I still own the rig and it still looks great).

I was hired by my present agency just as they began the transition from revolver to semi-auto pistol. I was issued a standard leather thumb-break but soon upgraded to a Safariland SSIII holster (now known as Model 070). Plainclothes street narcotics assignment had me wearing a pancake style thumb-break for my department issue 5906 then progressing to a more secure Safariland plainclothes holster which replicated my uniform 070.

When BLACKHAWK! introduced their SERPA holster I bought one of the first and have used a SERPA rig ever since in my plainclothes training bureau assignment. When the Xiphos light was introduced I segued into a plainclothes SERPA holster which allows me to carry the Xiphos weapon-light attached. My tactical rig when running SWAT team and operator training was the SERPA Level 3 on that company’s excellent thigh rig. It was natural then for me to then carry a SERPA uniform duty holster. The BLACKHAWK! Level 3 is the fastest security holster I have ever used, bar none. Since then I have upgraded to a Level 3 SERPA for my Xiphos equipped Glock 19. This was the rig I selected for uniform duty carry.

Belt and Accoutrements

In this day and age of blood born diseases being so prevalent it is not a sound idea to wear leather gear on duty. Polymer equipment can be easily disinfected should it be exposed to blood or other body fluids, leather cannot. Further with advanced polymer molding processes equipment fit is much better as is scratch resistance. Uniform and equipment appearance to citizens and suspects conveys the powerful message of your state of readiness and competence. A scratched up leather belt, holster and other equipment on an officer indicates a sloppy ill-prepared officer just like an ill-fitting or wrinkled duty uniform.

(Author’s Note: I knew an old beat cop whose belt (and his appearance) looked like heck (the .38 rounds in his belt loops were actually green with corrosion). His attitude said clearly, “I don’t care” (because he didn’t) and he garnered no respect on the street because of it.)

I would remind officers to inspect holsters, belts and other equipment on a regular basis. Polymers can crack and break and belt loops can loosen or stitches unravel. As I inspected my equipment for this piece I noted my double cuff case which has been with me for years is starting to crack – time to replace it.

My agency provides Uncle Mike’s black basket-weave Mirage belts on which I mounted my BLACKHAWK! SERPA Level 3, Bianchi open top dual mag carrier (much faster and just as secure as a flap covered mag carrier), an ASP polymer holster containing my 21 inch ASP baton topped with a Hindi baton cap, a Safariland dual cuff case, another ASP scabbard holds my Streamlight PolyStinger Dual Switch LED flashlight, a back-up Streamlight Strion LED compact light is held in a Uncle Mikes flapped holder, a small key holder and lastly a swivel holster for my portable radio. Two belt keepers are all I use. One is mounted behind my holster to keep my OC spray carrier from interfering with my pistol access. The second keeper is affixed at the rear of my belt.

Real Estate and Placement

As I’ve gotten older I have more room on my belt to mount gear (that’s all I’m sayin’…). Smaller male and female officers may be hard pressed to get the real estate to carry their gear. BDU trousers with thigh pockets offer some options such as carrying a Taser X26 in a pocket holster from DeSantis. I’m not issued a Taser but if I was, I would probably mount it in front of my belt for a cross draw.

Most of my life-saving gear (pistol, spare mags, cuffs, baton) are carried in front of my hips for easier access. Years ago I carried my double cuff case behind my pistol and behind my hip but that caused lower back problems so I moved it up front (easier access with either hand as well). Nowadays I don’t carry anything on the belt that keeps my back from being flat against the car seat or anything that could injure my spine should I fall backwards.

Some officers carry a latex glove pouch on their belt. Although I’ve always had patrol gloves in a pocket or on the dash for quick access as well as having latex gloves readily available, I’ve never carried them on the belt.

Wrap-Up

The duty police belt  does more than just serve as some piece of ceremonial uniform gear. It carries, ready at hand, the firearm and equipment we may need to save our very lives. Care must be taken in its selection, placement and maintenance so that it can serve you in its intended function. Look good and perform well on the street by properly attending to your duty police belt , holster and gear. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

An end to duty police belt pain?

Old West gunslingers wore their sidearms and ammo on a gun belt, and cops have been using that platform for their equipment ever since. With the addition of handcuffs, baton, radio, glove pouch, TASER, and whatever, the belt became heavier, and now there’s seldom any room for more gear. That extra and unbalanced weight brought on the added issue of back and hip pain,especially for officers of smaller stature.

Police gun belts or duty police belts are often called Sam Browne belts, after British General
Sam Browne. General Browne won the Victoria Cross, analogous to the U.S. Medal of Honor, for his actions to take down a gun crew that was firing on his men. In so doing, he lost his left arm in a sword fight. He continued his military career, but had some difficulty carrying his officer’s sword in a scabbard on a traditional belt. The scabbard attached to the belt with a clip called a “frog,” and the frog didn’t grip the belt tightly. Wearers usually had to grasp the frog with their left hands while drawing the sword with the right.

To compensate, Browne added a cross belt going from his left hip to his right shoulder, which held the frog in one place. The design was copied in the British and other countries’ military uniforms, and was picked up by many police agencies to hold pistol holsters in place. The cross belt has been eliminated from most police uniforms, but remnants of the original design are still in use. Modern Sam Browne belts are half or fully lined to stiffen them and support the weight of the equipment worn on them, and incorporates a false buckle with hooks on the back to attach to hardware on the opposite end.

Atlas Load Bearing Equipment has developed a duty police belt add-on that distributes the weight of the belt over a larger area of the hips and pelvis.Now that Sam Brownes have to accommodate a lot more hardware than a sword or a pistol, the best solutions to better distribute the weight thus far involve suspenders, a load-bearing vest, or some combination thereof to take some of the load off of the hips and lower back and shift it to the upper body. These don’t fit with the traditional appearance of a police officer, and suspenders have a way of getting caught up on whatever protrusions happen to be in the officer’ s operating environment. Load-bearing vests are closely associated with combat troops, which is not the image most agencies want to present.

Most of the weight of a Sam Browne is borne by a protrusion at the top of the femur (thigh
bone), called the trochanter. The trochanter is the “point” of the hip at its highest point
and farthest out to the sides from the midline. Well, Atlas Load Bearing Equipment has developed a duty police belt add-on that distributes the weight of the belt over a larger area of the hips and pelvis, taking some of the load off of the trochanter. The add-on consists of two carbon fiber plates attached to the inside of the duty police belt at either side, and two base plates threaded onto the underbelt or trouser belt.

The “tacplates” attach to the duty police belt with long plastic zip ties – a special low-profile, high-strength variant called a Cobra-Tie. The precise position of the tacplates is determined by the wearer’s anatomy and the placement of the gear on the belt. The wearer threads two zip ties vertically through the loops on the tacplates so that the ties will fit between equipment items. Once good placement is achieved for fit and comfort, the ties are closed and the excess material snipped off. This is a one-time fitting process, although the ties can always be cut off and the process repeated if adjustments are needed. It’s possible to use regular belt keepers in place of the zip ties, if desired.

The tacplates use Velcro to mate to the base plates threaded onto the underbelt. The wearer
first applies the strong or gun side, then wraps the duty police belt around to mate the offside base plate and tacplate together. This keeps the belt from sliding around the circumference of the waist. The wearer then applies belt keepers in front and back to stabilize the belt vertically. There is a video on the Atlas LBE website that describes the process of applying the tacplates and how they work to better distribute the weight of the duty police belt .

Atlas LBE maintains that the tacplates “act like a cantilever bridge to channel the load of
your duty police belt  to the ground.” The plates are almost completely hidden by the equipment on the belt, so there is no alteration to the traditional appearance to the uniform.

At $170, this isn’t an inexpensive piece of gear, but it is relatively risk-free. Atlas LBE offers a 60-day refund of the purchase price if you’re not completely satisfied with the results. Of course, if you’re living with chronic back and/or hip pain from a duty police belt ,getting rid of it for that price is a great bargain.