The effects of body armour on the power development and agility of police officers. Issue 10 (3rd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schram, Ben; Orr, Robin; Hinton, Ben; Pope, Rodney; Norris, Geoff
• Is Part Of: Ergonomics. Volume 62:Issue 10(2019)
• Page Start: 1349
• Page End: 1356
• Publication Date: 2019-10-03
• Subjects: Law enforcement -- load -- personal protective equipment -- occupational health and safety; Human engineering -- Periodicals; Cybernetics -- Periodicals; Industrial management -- Periodicals; Ergonomie -- Périodiques; Cybernétique -- Périodiques; Gestion d'entreprise -- Périodiques; 620.8205
• DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2019.1648878
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0014-0139

Abstract

Abstract: A study was conducted in which 11 police officers wore one of three different types of Individual Light Armour Vests (ILAV), or normal station wear, for an entire day while completing power and agility-based tasks including a vertical jump (VJ), agility test, 20 m sprint and counter movement jump (CMJ). Despite all three ILAVs being significantly ( p < .05) heavier than normal station wear, there were no significant differences between any of the ILAVs in VJ, time to complete the agility test, 20 m sprint time, peak force, velocity, power and jump distance in the CMJ. There was a significantly ( p < .05) higher mean force produced in the CMJ while wearing all three ILAVs. The ILAV's investigated do not appear to be heavy enough to significantly affect the power or agility of police officers. The utilisation of ILAVs by police officers does not appear to hinder policing tasks that involve agility or power development. Practitioner summary: The addition of the extra load of military-styled body armour is known to decrease performance and mobility. When compared to normal station wear, the wearing of three different ILAV types used in policing do not appear to be heavy enough to affect the power or agility of police officers. Abbreviations: ILAV: individual light armour vest; VJ: vertical jump; CMJ: counter movement jump; N: normal station wear