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A Comparison of Military and Law Enforcement Body Armour

Author

Listed:
  • Robin Orr

    (Tactical Research Unit—Bond Institute of Health and Sport; Gold Coast 4226, Australia)

  • Ben Schram

    (Tactical Research Unit—Bond Institute of Health and Sport; Gold Coast 4226, Australia)

  • Rodney Pope

    (Tactical Research Unit—Bond Institute of Health and Sport; Gold Coast 4226, Australia
    School of Community Health, Charles Sturt University, Albury-Wodonga 2640, Australia)

Abstract

Law-enforcement officers increasingly wear body armour for protection; wearing body armour is common practice in military populations. Law-enforcement and military occupational demands are vastly different and military-styled body armour may not be suitable for law-enforcement. This study investigated differences between selected military body armour (MBA: 6.4 kg) and law-enforcement body armour (LEBA: 2.1 kg) in impacts on postural sway, vertical jump, agility, a functional movement screen (FMS), task simulations (vehicle exit; victim recovery), and subjective measures. Ten volunteer police officers (six females, four males) were randomly allocated to one of the designs on each of two days. Body armour type did not significantly affect postural sway, vertical jump, vehicle exit and 5 m sprint times, or victim recovery times. Both armour types increased sway velocity and sway-path length in the final five seconds compared to the first 5 s of a balance task. The MBA was associated with significantly slower times to complete the agility task, poorer FMS total scores, and poorer subjective ratings of performance and comfort. The LEBA was perceived as more comfortable and received more positive performance ratings during the agility test and task simulations. The impacts of MBA and LEBA differed significantly and they should not be considered interchangeable.

Suggested Citation

  • Robin Orr & Ben Schram & Rodney Pope, 2018. "A Comparison of Military and Law Enforcement Body Armour," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:2:p:339-:d:131913
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robin Orr & Rodney Pope & Samantha Peterson & Benjamin Hinton & Michael Stierli, 2016. "Leg Power As an Indicator of Risk of Injury or Illness in Police Recruits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-10, February.
    2. Kate Lyons & Cameron Radburn & Robin Orr & Rodney Pope, 2017. "A Profile of Injuries Sustained by Law Enforcement Officers: A Critical Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-21, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jeremy Robinson & Ben Schram & Elisa Canetti & Robin Orr, 2019. "Do Barrier Test Results Predict Survival in Specialist Police Tactical Selection Courses?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-6, September.
    2. Ante Krolo & Barbara Gilic & Nikola Foretic & Haris Pojskic & Raouf Hammami & Miodrag Spasic & Ognjen Uljevic & Sime Versic & Damir Sekulic, 2020. "Agility Testing in Youth Football (Soccer)Players; Evaluating Reliability, Validity, and Correlates of Newly Developed Testing Protocols," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Robin Orr & Danny Maupin & Robert Palmer & Elisa F. D. Canetti & Vini Simas & Ben Schram, 2022. "The Impact of Footwear on Occupational Task Performance and Musculoskeletal Injury Risk: A Scoping Review to Inform Tactical Footwear," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-39, August.

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