Information about patrol vest ergonomics

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.031137

I note you seek access to the following information:

I am seeking data or anecdotal accounts regarding the long-term health effects of wearing a load-bearing vest. American police often carry all our patrol gear on a duty belt while wearing a ballistic vest under the uniform shirt. My understanding is that patrol officers with the Metropolitan Police Service carry their radios and other gear mounted on their vests and this has been the standard for many years. I recently transitioned to a load-bearing vest but most of my co-workers are unable to.

I am hoping to gather data to help my chain of command make an informed decision regarding the future of our equipment standards. I opted to contact your agency rather than an American one because we have thousands of law enforcement agencies and no consistent equipment standards at the national level.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

The current standard practice is to have radio and body worn cameras (BWV) on the armour and the rest of the equipment, e.g., baton, cuffs, PPE and PAVA spray on the equipment belt. However, not all officers have all of their equipment on their vests.

Officers who have been referred to OH (Occupational Health) due to back problems with the amount of equipment on their belt would be issued with the load bearing vest which would be worn over their body armour.

The MPS moved away from the load bearing vests in February 2020 to the Molle Tac vests – these vests have a Molle (modular lightweight load-carrying equipment) which allows the wearer to distribute the PPE where it is most comfortable, as opposed to fixed holders that were on the load bearing vests. The equipment belt is still provided, allowing officers to place PPE on there as well as the vest for even distribution of the weight.

Radio and BWV are worn on the tac vest as they are equipped with holders to allow for correct positioning.

In the MPS tac vests are issued to officers who have been referred to OH, however, other business groups can also request these tac vests with appropriate rationale.

The MPS have been reviewing the body amour as a whole and as part of that, the armour will have a Molle cover and this will be launched at the end of 2023. Currently, the armour does not allow you to place PPE but it does have with the fixed holders for the radio and BWV. This will mean that all officers will have the ability to place their PPE on the armour or on the belt and the tac vest will be optional.

Officers that carry firearms in the MPS have a different body armour to those that don’t and their armour already include Molle which allows officers to place PPE or BWV where required, in relation to their duties.