Hi /k/, Why do US police officers approach wearing body armour

>>31116562
Different departments, different budgets/needs.

>>31116562
There's this thing called monies.

Some popo have less then others.

>>31116592
>>31116604

Jesus that's fucking rough.

I have to wear mine under my uniform.
Everyone fucking hates it. So jealous to police who get an putter vest and cargo type pants.

>>31116632
kek Camden, NJ which is a fucking shithole several years back cut their police department by a lot. A city that needs cops. Link related.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2193971/Camden-police-disbanded-270-officers-fired-amid-budget-crunch.html

>>31116632
Not really.

Cops generally don't get ambushed all the time Dallas or Louisiana style.

For example if you work in WASP land in a safe as fuck enviornment you really don't need a vest and having extra flexibility is nice. Most cops now are shifting to having rifles alone because of mass shooter assholes and their new SOP is to immediate engage the threat.

tl;dr you weae a vest based off the shit you deal with

>>31116562
Most officers wear a IIIa soft armor vest with a front hard trauma plate. The worst police armor I've seen was lvl II with an uncoated steel 6x8" trauma plate, which will still stop most 9mm loads everywhere and some rifle rounds in the trauma plate.

Every officer has acces to a IIIa tactical armor carrier with lvl IV rifle plates in case of serious shit.

99.9999% of officers wear their soft armor under their shirts so as to present a less threatening and easily identifiable/readable uniform (which has a side benefit of obscuring where plates/soft armor end). By Federal law every sworn officer must have a nameplate/nametape and a badge with a unique ID number on it visible at all times while in uniform, due to people impersonating police for shit like robberies/muggings during the 60's.

>>31116792
I am from NJ, and this post ignores certain realities.

One they did that to avoid police unions. Two they were so corrupt they had to do this to get rid of the bad apples.

They now have a county funded metro police with all part time not paid for shit police force.

>>31116772
That must be fucking hell.
Even Britbong cops wear thier vests overt, that includes the standard street cops as well as armed.

>>31116808
Even so, something as basic as a stab vest would be better than nothing facing drunks, general low tier gangbangers etc.

>>31116889
That seems more of what I was thinking would be standard issue. The wearing of armour under the shirts still seems uncomfortable as hell though.

>>31116914
Oh I'm sure there is more to the story, always is the case. I just was amazed how many got shit canned and how they wouldn't respond to lower crime calls due to staff shortage. Is Camden not a shithole? My friend lives in Jersey and said Camden and Patterson were almost at beyond saving tier.

>>31116562
Police officers usually don't wear plate carriers outside of Muslim countries.

>>31116956
There are undershirts specifically designed for it that still allows a good bit of breathability.

Good soft armor vests are quite thin and light, even at IIIa levels of protection.

>>31116978
Camden is Somali tier, but the cops are a huge part of it.

>>31116889
Protip:
You're full of shit. Police use of armor varies wildly across the country, there is no standard.

>>31116988
Don't doubt it. When applying to DC I was reading about how a lot of cops were arrested for being crooked and they hired I guess a ton of bad apples in the 80's and 90's rush to get more cops.

Most cops in the states wear their armour under their uniform shirts. The U.S is really weirded out by "militarization of police" and to lots of idiots wearing an external vest is part of this.

"HURRR SOULJURS WEAR LOAD BEARING EQUIPMENT SO POLICE CAN'T OR THERE DRESSING LIKE SOULJURS".

But seriously, wearing heavy equipment like magazines and radios on the vest itself takes lots of extra strain off the lower lumbar. This has been an issue that chiropractic associations have been lobbying police departments for for years. There is no reason officers should end their career with a destroyed lower back because of "department policy".

>>31116996
Unless you've actually left your county at least once in your adult life, don't speak about things in other parts of the state/country.

I have lived in 19 states and have been to 49 of them as well as all 3 territories. Unless there is an ongoing SHTF scenario like Ferguson or Boston, cops across the country wear their armor inside their uniform. In SHTF scenarios like that, they wear a tactical vest (sometimes with rifle plates, sometimes without) or riot armor (generally doesn't incorporate ballistic protection) over their standard duty uniform.

IT IS A STANDARD due to a A FEDERAL LAW STATING COPS MUST BE IDENTIFIABLE BY BOTH NAME AND BADGE NUMBER when in uniform. Yes, there are like, maybe 12 jurisdictions total that put all that shit on an external vest, but due to a general standard on professional appearance the other approximately 65,000 jurisdictions in the US wear them inside the uniform.

Pretty much the only exceptions to this are SWAT entry teams and sworn officers in an admin position that don't wear any armor because they have a 0% chance of getting shot at.

>>31116562
Outside of the correctional facility, I've never seen anyone wearing a stab vest. Most vests bought and used today are level 3, but, the policy on wearing a vest is up the individual department. Now, whether you wear the vest under your uniform shirt or you've moved to an external carrier, that too is up to your department and personal preference.

I still wear a 3A vest under my uniform shirt.

>>31116889
>Every officer has acces to a IIIa tactical armor carrier with lvl IV rifle plates in case of serious shit.


Are you sure about that?

>99.9999% of officers wear their soft armor under their shirts
are you sure about that?

>By Federal law every sworn officer must have a nameplate/nametape and a badge with a unique ID number on it visible at all times while in uniform,
are you sure about that?

You're about to get destroyed here.

>>31116978
Yeah, its a shithole, and police can't fix it.

>>31117160
>IT IS A STANDARD due to a A FEDERAL LAW STATING COPS MUST BE IDENTIFIABLE BY BOTH NAME AND BADGE NUMBER when in uniform

Why don't you cite that federal law for us.

>>31117160
Meanwhile, some departments do not require armor to be worn. At all. Others do not have trauma plates.

You are attempting to claim that every department is operating the same way.

You are wrong.

>>31117241
He's quite sure.

Which is hilarious, because I interact with cops often enough to know that more than one forgo any form of body armor at all, much less fucking iiia protection.

>>31117241
Agreed. Not sure how cops on foot patrol or on bicycles could carry all that shit with them.

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>>31117160
>HUE HUE. I drove through a bunch of states so I am an expert on all 65,000 police jurisdiction policies.

The use of body armor depends entirely on department policy. Stop acting like a name and badge number is an obscene amount of information to put on an external carrier. Most literally just buy carriers that have velcro patches on the front or just add their own little strips for like an extra $2.00.

Most departments wear concealed carriers because it makes them appear more like a "friendly policeman" and is more PR friendly as well as the tactical advantage of not letting others know where their protection ends. Other departments prioritize the utility and convenience of having an external carrier that can be removed when out of the field or to provide quick access to essential equipment.

>>31117263
What makes it more hilarious is that I am a sworn LEO in PA and the guy/child/girl is talking out of a stinky assshole.

>>31117160
Except for Florida it seems.
FHP is moving to external plate carriers and I've seen many sheriff and police department officers in my area wearing external vests on standard road patrol.
Before you say some shit about how crime riddled the area is, a "massive drug bust" in this area is the cops finding a couple pounds of weed and a few thousand dollars in cash that made front page news on the local papers for four counties.

>>31117289
Half the guys I work with have moved to external carriers. It's our choice. I still wear mine under my shirt, but, I'm coming due for a vest replacement and will probably order/have made the external carrier to get some of the weight off my duty belt.

>>31116562

A lot of stuff varies. Department, budget, personal preference, etc.

My brother is in law enforcement, he wears the chest rig body armor. His department would not pay for it, he paid for it out of his own pocket. Reason why is cause he likes less shit on his belt , feels like he can get to things faster that way too.

>>31117308
The funny bit is that all the FHP I've seen wear carriers with nothing but a state trooper or FHP patch on the back and their badge on the front. All their equipment is still on their belts.

>>31116889
>>31117160
>[ ] Told
>[ ] Told like a fucking boss
[X] Told like a fucking boss and made to look like an ass.

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Amerifat LEO here. Different agencies have different styles/makes/brands of body armor because they have different budgets. A major missconception by people is they think all police are trained by the same people and ran by the same people with all the same budget. Our county provides all Deputy Sheriffs with body armor rated up to .44 magnum, while the city police department has enough money to provide higher rated armor to their officers because they're a better funded department due to more people living in the city than in the county.

>>31116562
>Why isn't there a standard of wearing at least protection against 9mm etc. for officers?

Because America is a big place. Many individual states are bigger than the UK, so why would they all be identical?

>>31116562

We dont have a big muslim problem like britbongistan, different needs for different places. Most are military unused surplus.