Wear those day glow reflective vests/jackets when on duty?
As my mind was wandering today trying to solve the worlds problems, a recent incident where a homeowner was killed by police in his home after a self defense shooting kept playing in my mind and how to possibly decrease the likelihood of future ones. Yes, the obvious drop the gun and listen to the police usually works, but let's say it's 2:00 AM , you've just been violently roused out of a deep sleep, there's an intruder in your home and you're forced to shoot to defend yourself. You fire off two or three rounds of .357 at close range in your hallway.
Yes, you're probably close to deaf and depending on how much light there is, not seeing too clearly either. You don't know if there's more than one of these intruders so on top of being in shock from the shooting your senses are extremely heightened. There's someone screaming outside your home, but you can't quite make it out and all you can see is a dark shadowy figure.
Turns out it's a policeman, but in his dark blue uniform in the darkness you can't make him out.
Now OSHA or most corporations requires this safety clothing in just about every trade out there that involves the public or requires employees to "stand out". Construction job sites, quarries and mines, highway workers, truck terminals and warehouses, rail yards, firefighters, heck even my garbage truck driver wears one. Yet we send our police out at zero dark thirty with a dark blue uniform on. Just doesn't make sense. I know a lot of officers use them for traffic duty, but what about those patrol guys out and about, making traffic stops and answering calls? It doesn't take much light to make that clothing really "light up", a distant flash of a headlight or streetlight. I could see it even helping avoid some friendly fire possibilities.
Just seems like a no brainer to me. Is it the tradition of the blue uniform? Maybe I'll look silly in it or it's not tacti-cool? Can't be cost, that stuff is pretty inexpensive compared to other safety and job related equipment.
Yes I have seen some officers starting to wear them (especially state troopers), but it doesn't seem to be a requirement with most departments.
Like I said, just random musings of mine on a very cold late fall day.
As my mind was wandering today trying to solve the worlds problems, a recent incident where a homeowner was killed by police in his home after a self defense shooting kept playing in my mind and how to possibly decrease the likelihood of future ones. Yes, the obvious drop the gun and listen to the police usually works, but let's say it's 2:00 AM , you've just been violently roused out of a deep sleep, there's an intruder in your home and you're forced to shoot to defend yourself. You fire off two or three rounds of .357 at close range in your hallway.
Yes, you're probably close to deaf and depending on how much light there is, not seeing too clearly either. You don't know if there's more than one of these intruders so on top of being in shock from the shooting your senses are extremely heightened. There's someone screaming outside your home, but you can't quite make it out and all you can see is a dark shadowy figure.
Turns out it's a policeman, but in his dark blue uniform in the darkness you can't make him out.
Now OSHA or most corporations requires this safety clothing in just about every trade out there that involves the public or requires employees to "stand out". Construction job sites, quarries and mines, highway workers, truck terminals and warehouses, rail yards, firefighters, heck even my garbage truck driver wears one. Yet we send our police out at zero dark thirty with a dark blue uniform on. Just doesn't make sense. I know a lot of officers use them for traffic duty, but what about those patrol guys out and about, making traffic stops and answering calls? It doesn't take much light to make that clothing really "light up", a distant flash of a headlight or streetlight. I could see it even helping avoid some friendly fire possibilities.
Just seems like a no brainer to me. Is it the tradition of the blue uniform? Maybe I'll look silly in it or it's not tacti-cool? Can't be cost, that stuff is pretty inexpensive compared to other safety and job related equipment.
Yes I have seen some officers starting to wear them (especially state troopers), but it doesn't seem to be a requirement with most departments.
Like I said, just random musings of mine on a very cold late fall day.
