Are LEOs' well protected?

[Motofool]

During the last and current weeks, we have had two traffic accidents involving motorcyclist LEOs' here in South Florida.

In both cases, cars have crashed against their motorcycles, injuring them badly.

Waiting for a red light to turn to green this morning, one motorcycle officer was waiting next to me and I had a chance to observe his degree of protection: half helmet, gloves and boots; the rest, just regular uniform cloth.

It seems to me that for such a dangerous job, they could use some better and more up to date protection.

What do you think?

[CZroe]

Pretty sure Lt. Jim Dangle's uniform is not regulation but he gets away with it because he needs to be able to "pounce" from his bicycle. :P

[dfox]

i've been thinking the same thing... the officers around here are in basically t-shirts and pants, with a half-face. Seems very unprotected. If I were one I'd push for more gear.

[lgk]

i have seen them wear jackets at the winter time.
not sure if they are armored though.

in the summer, its too hot since they have to wear vests.

i think they should get a nice modular helmet, instead of the half face/sun glasses.

[dfox]

Originally Posted by lgk

in the summer, its too hot since they have to wear vests.

too hot for what? I ride in full gear, every day. boots, jacket, pants, gloves, etc. honestly, on the really hot days, I feel better wearing the gear than I do with it off. it keeps the solar load off your skin, and on the jacket.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by dfox

too hot for what? I ride in full gear, every day. boots, jacket, pants, gloves, etc. honestly, on the really hot days, I feel better wearing the gear than I do with it off. it keeps the solar load off your skin, and on the jacket.

wear a bulletproof vest in 100 degree heat, then all your other gear and get back to me. i tried it before and it was very uncomfortable.

i wear ATGATT but in some places the vest and helmet is required but other protection is not. the heat certainly does not help.

what they need to do is develop thinner more flexible class II armor that vents well, that includes CE rated armor in a mesh jacket and a better helmet. this way officers wont get heat exhaustion.

[csmith12]

Ask a soldier in Afghanistan if it's to hot for gear.

[Nemesis]

With all those heat they're packing I'd say they are. =P

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

With all those heat they're packing I'd say they are. =P

Well, I can tell you that these two officers did not use any heat against those drunk drivers (one crossed over the media and run over the bike coming in the opposite direction) and both ended up in a hospital.

[lostdaemon]

From what I remember from asking a LEO, and have seen on them also, CHPs are ridiculously skilled riders, but wear half-shell or modular helmets and gloves for protection. I don't know if their boots have any protection

[lgk]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Ask a soldier in Afghanistan if it's to hot for gear.

i had no idea the Army used motorcycles there.

what kind of gear do they use?

[oblivion007]

Most LEO's in my city are the same except for the ones with the new bikes some high displacement sports bike from kawasaki, they have cool full faced helmets.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by oblivion007

Most LEO's in my city are the same except for the ones with the new bikes some high displacement sports bike from kawasaki, they have cool full faced helmets.

Pictures???

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by lgk

i had no idea the Army used motorcycles there.

what kind of gear do they use?

http://olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_m1030_m1d.php

[lgk]

Originally Posted by csmith12

http://olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_m1030_m1d.php

thats pretty cool, but it looked like they were only wearing a helmet.
no motorcycle or dirt bike gear.

i tried to find pics of gear, but couldn't find anything.

[csmith12]

I think if they get ANY motorycycle specific gear they would be either lucky or not use it. I don't really blame them though. They give enough, they can squid it up if they want.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by csmith12

I think if they get ANY motorycycle specific gear they would be either lucky or not use it. I don't really blame them though. They give enough, they can squid it up if they want.

i think the same thing would happen to motorcycle cops, they might get some gear but the heat will cause them not to wear it.

[Whiskey]

I can't say what exactly the english cops have (full leathers, Arai RX-7, gloves & boots) but the Irish have daytona boots, Arai RX-7 lid, fully armoured custom made leathers & pretty beefy gloves. Wet weather gear goes over the leathers.

On top of that they are very skilled, I've seen them throw fully laden dullvilles around like they weigh nothing

[alex.s]

the local moto sheriffs wear gear. it looks like a normal uniform, but i get to talking to them somewhat regularly (yeah...) and they are actually made from cordua and have padding sewn in. though they still wear short sleave shirts which i dont understand. they also say their little comm thing is next to useless over 85

[Motofool]

This video shows that they could be better protected:

http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=38393

[alex.s]

Why you don't stunt on the street yo

Also he should have jumped right before the bump

[Aggrotech]

Originally Posted by Motofool

During the last and current weeks, we have had two traffic accidents involving motorcyclist LEOs' here in South Florida.

In both cases, cars have crashed against their motorcycles, injuring them badly.

Waiting for a red light to turn to green this morning, one motorcycle officer was waiting next to me and I had a chance to observe his degree of protection: half helmet, gloves and boots; the rest, just regular uniform cloth.

It seems to me that for such a dangerous job, they could use some better and more up to date protection.

What do you think?

I had to deal with an incident at work awhile back that had a few LEO's involved. Was able to observe their ****** ass gear and everything was spot on as you mentioned, except for 1 guys' pants. He had normal looking cloth pants, but they had a ribbed type of look to them all around his legs, from his thighs to his boots. Think of the ribbed look of the Dainese Wave Air back protector and thats exactly what it looked like, except it was under his pants. He was the only officer with them on. Had no idea wtf it was.

[Jono]

Ha Oh man, what a crash. He got lucky the bike didn't crush him. I liked how his pistol bounced across the pavement and into the curb.

[old3]

I was scheduled to be a motor officer for my dept nearly a decade ago. I presented the Chief with a voucher for just over $2,000 for a flip face lid, boots and a full Aerostitch LEO suit.

Denied. Too expensive for a multi MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET dept!!! We have a $180,000 SWAT truck in a suburban town with no serious crime rate.

So, now another guy rides in basic polyester uniform with horse boots and a half lid. Law enforcement is sooooo stuck in their thinking and nonsense they are way behind the times. When that officer falls and needs $250,000 in skin grafts and loss of hours due to injury they will drop the bike program for a generation and then do it all over again.

I'm out in January after 25 years of this backwards mentality and it isn't a day too soon!

[lgk]

Thats what happens when office personnel with no field experience make decisions on gear.

They are too worried about looking good, to worry about you....

Happened to me many times, with electronics, ppe, and tools.
Arguing for approval can be an art form

[old3]

Look at European moto cops where bikes are valued tools of the profession, not just window dressing and status BS. They wear real gear for the ride. Yeah, you need to be able to run/fight/shoot but I'd rather fight a guy in my padded riding gear than a poly dress suit!

[lgk]

the euro police probably have a lot more motorcycle units as a whole.
that makes their procurement more stringent in terms of safety.

locally here the most i see motorcycle units is for funeral traffic control.

yea i would fight someone in my gear hth for sure.

imagine it would be like fighting a person wearing a high gear suit.
its real hard to hurt them.

[LoD575]

Originally Posted by old3

I was scheduled to be a motor officer for my dept nearly a decade ago. I presented the Chief with a voucher for just over $2,000 for a flip face lid, boots and a full Aerostitch LEO suit.

Denied. Too expensive for a multi MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET dept!!! We have a $180,000 SWAT truck in a suburban town with no serious crime rate.

So, now another guy rides in basic polyester uniform with horse boots and a half lid. Law enforcement is sooooo stuck in their thinking and nonsense they are way behind the times. When that officer falls and needs $250,000 in skin grafts and loss of hours due to injury they will drop the bike program for a generation and then do it all over again.

I'm out in January after 25 years of this backwards mentality and it isn't a day too soon!

Thank you for your service.

The motor officers in my department wear very little gear as well.

[NJfinest50]

http://www.break.com/pranks/presiden...d-bump-2393801

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by lgk

....locally here the most i see motorcycle units is for funeral traffic control.

Thank you much for your posts, Jim and Jason, they really complete this thread.

It is different here in Florida, they are everywhere, especially patrolling on I-95, one of the most dangerous highways in USA.

I started this thread because my concern after seeing so many of them working half naked in an environment in which I don't ride without full protection.

They may wear bullet-proof vests, that I don't know.
They wear a regular black jacket during our warm winter.

[bdavison]

Originally Posted by lgk

thats pretty cool, but it looked like they were only wearing a helmet.
no motorcycle or dirt bike gear.

i tried to find pics of gear, but couldn't find anything.

WOW....now I know what I looked like when that happened to me. Yup...I know exactly what that feels like.
Hit a unmarked speedbump in the dark and it high sided me just like that..I rolled over after hitting the ground and saw the bike upside down flying over the top of me.

SUCKS big time. Kinda cool to see what it actually looked like.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Thank you much for your posts, Jim and Jason, they really complete this thread.

It is different here in Florida, they are everywhere, especially patrolling on I-95, one of the most dangerous highways in USA.

I started this thread because my concern after seeing so many of them working half naked in an environment in which I don't ride without full protection.

They may wear bullet-proof vasts, that I don't know.
They wear a regular black jacket during our warm winter.

Most all departments issue body armor, and require its use.
It does get hot with it on, since it does not vent.

But that doesnt mean a nicely designed mesh jacket couldnt be worn over it.

I think its more a procurement issue than anything else.

[Joshorilla]

The cops here are always very well kitted out, they get new motorcycles every five years or so, they have the BMW modular helmets, high viz everything, armoured everything, they look the business.

Cops aren't the only ones here, paramedics have special bikes too.

They also have a ridiculous level of training. I don't think i've ever heard of any of them crashing.

[headshrink]

I've been wondering the same is the OP, and am glad some LEOs are here to respond. The local cops, and CHP only wear 3/4 helmets, which I'm not comfortable with, but a modular helmet seems like it would be a good compromise. I assumed it was all about balancing practicality and risk, but didn't consider the budget issues mentioned above.

[DaveTheCanuck]

It has nothing to do with heat.

They need to be able to get off their bikes and chase on foot at any time. You can't do that if you're wearing restrictive/bulky gear.

The 1/2 helmet is both for the above fact (they can't take their helmet off before chasing on foot, so it needs to be light and have a full field of vision) and also so people are able to see their face at all times.

They have to balance the requirements of riding a motorcycle with the requirements of being a Police officer.

[NJfinest50]

Dallas

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/commu...-near-zang.ece

[Nemesis]

Didn't read initial post, nor everyone else's...but yes they are well protected:

[bradvanhorn]

I recently transferred to New Orleans, LA and I haven't seen a motorcycle patrol so I don't know for sure if they have motor officers. The Jacksonville, NC (where I just left) motor officers (only three of them I think) all wore Olympia Motorsports Airglide 3 mesh jackets (neon yellow) and pants (black) on motor patrol. The jacket went over a ballistic vest. I don't recall the brand but the boots and gloves were sturdy. The helmet as I recall was a full-face modular/flip-up chin type. The one officer I spoke with said all the gear could get uncomfortable in the summer peak heat (and humidity) but the crash protection was worthwhile.

[249cc]

Here in Los Angeles, our moto cops got full upgrade a couple years ago. Modular helmet and a move from the Kz1000s to the BMW RT line of bikes. Aside from that, I haven't gotten close enough to see actual gear.

[beazy411]

Brad,

Welcome to NOLA and you'll soon be missing Jackvegas. There are motorcycle cops down here, but they wear 3/4 helmets and what looks like standard police uniform. I think they're on old Harley police models, but not 100%.