By Auston Price,
LAPD
There are
many challenges and conflictions when trying to
select Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and
full body PPE suits. The equipment needs to fit
well and stop the bullets in and ever growing
society of hostilities directed towards law
enforcement officers. With these increasing
numbers of personal attacks on the law
enforcement community have forced many officers
to follow their first intuition to don their
PPE body armor prior to working the streets.
There are many agencies that have implemented
policies that the PPE shall be worn by any
officer in a field related assignment. The
utilization of the PPE (Body Armor) is also a
requirement by personnel either to be worn on
are inside a PPE suit on any possible response
to a Weapon of Mass Destruction Incident.
These agencies, as well as the manufactures
alike, have been monitoring the increasingly
large number of powerful weapons turning up in
many communities.
The
common weapons on the street for many years
were the semi automatic pistols and revolvers,
but according to James Scanlon, an officer for
the Columbus (Ohio) Police Department and
co-founder of the North American SWAT Training
Association (NASTA), “Today, it’s common to
find AK-47s and M-16s”. The bad guys were
rarely in possession of .223 or 7.26
ammunition. They have increased their fire
power, and the change in armament makes it
obvious to law enforcement that they must seek
better armor to protect themselves.
Tactical plate carriers
have to be functional for their many
multitudes of job related duties, and first,
must have the ability to stop the bullets. The
various PPE manufactures claim they will
individually size the body armor to each
officer, but after having been fitted for the
PPE many officers still find that the body
armor, upon its arrival, is different from what
the company’s representative took down during
his/her initial measurement for the gear. The
PPE seems to return to the officer in generic
form, which is still cumbersome for them to
wear, and leaving them to don less protective
wear, and leaving behind the measured armor, if
they have to suit up in a WMD suit.
The
manufactures of PPE also need to construct this
armor with the mission of the urban law
enforcement in mind. This armor has to be
light weight, easier to conceal, provide
greater flexibility and first and foremost
offer ultimate protection for the individuals
wearing it. The manufactures up to the
September 11attacks have constructed outer PPE
for groups such as the fire departments but
these tasks become greater and more challenging
to design gear to deal with the threats of such
magnitudes like the Chemical, Biological,
Radiological and Nuclear incidents (CBRN) of
the present and future. According to Lt Tom
Nolan, one of the National Tactical Officer’s
Association representatives on the National
Institute of Justice (NIJ) special committee
who writes law enforcement CBRN PPE standards
says that prior to 9/11, many professionals did
not fore see law enforcement personnel
operating in this kind of environment, but now
law enforcement after 9/11 and current events
may be first to go in to confront the aggressor
(s).
The
mission of these agencies differ even though
they might have the same common goal, and that
is to render the location safe, calling for the
wearing of different PPE over their body
armor. The requirement for the fire department
is to stand out with their brighter outer wear
of colors; whereas Law Enforcement wants to
wear fabrics that would allow them to be
stealthy and inconspicuous. There are other
differences, according to Nolan, that need to
be addressed by the manufactures with the
interfacings of law enforcement equipment, with
the incorporation of holsters, scopes, body
armor and gloves. The garment worn by law
enforcement personnel has to be durable,
because unlike the fire department, officers
may have to run and jump over objects. The
garments themselves have to be designed for
comfort, whereas the individual doesn’t end up
in a heat stress condition, thereby resulting
in a compromising effect on their performance.
The heat stress conditions that occur with
wearing this equipment has to be addressed
based on the guidelines and information written
by Lt. Ed Allen manager and coordinator with
the Seminole County Sheriff's Department in
Stanford, Florida.
Lt Allen
also says this suit should not be worn more
than 2 hours because enclosure in the suit
would make its wearer feel constricted. The
manufacturers are also in the process of
addressing those concerns faced by the wearer
of CBRN PPE, in that the field of vision is
compromised, the loss of tactile sensation, and
the equipment is hard to operate in.(see
"Innovative solutions to PPE challenges" on
Page 26). According to Lt. Allen they have
been pushing the NIJ to write standards for law
enforcement and in turn will push manufacturers
to make equipment conducive to officer’s
needs. Lt. Nolan hopes the next standards on
the horizon will be those for SCBA/APR
equipment. The CBRN PPE committee is currently
tying the respiratory set standards with the
garment standards to field a fully functional
work compatible protective wear. Nolan says
“departments can decide their PPE needs by
breaking them down into three categories”. For
instances a (1) air-permeable, which allow some
air to pass through but still have a liner that
will capture toxic vapors; (2) semi-permeable
membranes, designed to wick away body heat
while stopping contamination; and (3) barrier
material, constructed to block out everything,
resulting in less heat stress but optimal
protection. If they can afford to, agencies
should try to mix it up”.
With the
standards set into place by the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) today, any funds obtain
from them to purchase equipment, has to meet a
universal standard and the only main standard
out and about is National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) with regards to the CBRN PPE,
and according to Nolan “ not all gear will meet
their standards”. Lt. Ed Allen is a teacher at
the National Tactical Officers Association and
instructs a course called “Tactical Operations
in a Hazardous Environment” he has observed
mistakes with the procurement procedures. This
shows that law enforcement agencies should be
involved more in the manufactures development
process. There is a great need for many
agencies to get involved in the development
process and put out ideas that are doable to
bring law enforcement to a new level of
protection in this ever growing hostile
society, which is not limited on the domestic
front, but the foreign theater campaign as
well.
About the Author
Police Officer III+I Auston Price is a
24 year veteran of the Los Angeles Police
Department currently serving in the
Metropolitan Division. He completed this paper
while completing his degree in Criminal Justice
Management and the Union Institute and
University.
References
www. Justnet.org National Institute of Justice-
Body Armor
NIJ News Abstract Title: The ABCs of PPE
Source: Officer.com, (September 2008), Pamela
Mills Senn
Innovative solutions to PPE challenges on Page
26
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bvpbasi/
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/journals/254/body_armor.html