Seat belts have always been of great importance in the police force. It’s the last piece of uniform gear we put on before heading out the door, and it’s almost always the first service item we remove when the shift is over.
We hate them, we curse them, we wallow in every shift while wearing them, but seat belts serve as a necessary means of carrying that all-important police gear while keeping our hands free.
Seat belts restrict our movements, prevent us from sitting properly in vehicles, and hang us from things like seat belts, etc. when exiting our vehicles.
The trick has always been to wear the best work belt we can, while achieving that important compromise between safety and comfort.
A bit of history: In the old days, Coppers only had to carry a few items: a gun and a holster, perhaps a truncheon (which was usually wound on a leather loop and held by the wrist, not on the belt of service) to “Call box key” and a set of handcuffs!
Compare that to today’s officer, who sometimes looks like a modern pack mule, loaded with safety gear.
Today’s duty belts carry an average of (10) ten pounds of equipment and sometimes even support up to 15 pounds. Items worn on the modern duty belt may include: (2) two or more sets of handcuffs and keys, a flashlight, one or (2) two batons or impact weapons, LOTS of ammunition in fast chargers or heavy magazines, a tape recorder, OC Spray and holster, a Taser and, of course, the service weapon. Of course, add to this the almost mandatory squishy body armor we all wear (which ALL pinches us between the bottom of the vest and our service belt) and we’re lugging tons of awkward, ill-fitting junk.
No wonder all modern officers have back pain at the end of the day!
Ask the workplace insurance companies, physical therapists, doctors and chiropractors who deal with the cops and their back pain on a daily basis, they will corroborate what I am saying: seat belts are breaking our backs!
Due to the excessive weight requirements of belted safety equipment today, it is absolutely necessary that the service belts are properly adjusted, properly supported and made of a strong and rigid material that will support the weight of the equipment. without “rolling”. or “sagging.”
Also, a properly fitted duty belt cannot be too stiff or restrictive, as this causes back pain or ties officers unnecessarily. An improperly adjusted work belt will at some point become a health and safety hazard, causing pinching, fatigue, back pain, hip / back misalignment, and bruising.
All police officers are built differently, with different body types. In addition, female police officers are structured differently from male police officers and require a properly adjusted duty belt. Therefore, work belts must be manufactured to fit all body types, frames, and sizes.
But, even if we get a properly fitted service belt, made from the latest materials, that is not enough.
I think we should revisit the “Sam Browne” belts of yesteryear. Remember those shoulder straps that helped support the weight of the service belt? Before they became ornamental garbage on dress uniforms, they actually had a purpose.
Hunters and soldiers in the field know that only a limited amount of weight can be carried around the waist before fatigue, pain, and hip problems set in. Therefore, all first-class military and hunting fanny packs (called fanny packs) have shoulder straps to help distribute weight evenly.
Think about it: structurally, our shoulders are designed to support and bear weight. Instead of trying to prevent a work belt from slipping around our waist by tightening it more and more, why don’t we have shoulder straps that go up to the shoulders to support that weight?
Hunters and military troops know that “fanny packs” can only support so much weight before becoming more of an obstacle than an asset. Yet law enforcement providers (and agencies) continue to perpetuate the problem by doing the same old thing. The modern version of the uniform work belt differs from the old leather belts mainly in the materials used for construction. This allows for slimmer belts, but who cares?
That’s not the fundamental problem, no matter what complicated Kevlar-backed material I develop, we are still trying to support 15 pounds of material around our waistline basically using friction!
I would like law enforcement equipment manufacturers to come out with attractive, properly fitting service equipment that has structural shoulder based support.
They don’t have to reinvent the wheel, military and hunting applications already rest on the shoulder. They could copy what works and give us what we need.
Give it a break behind our backs!
