What's up with the Gloves???

[dkiefner]

I tried to find the link, but it's gone.

LSS is that Pinellas County, FL Sheriff Everett Rice has banned the wearing of black gloves by his deputies, purportedly because he has received complaints that they looked like "thugs" while wearing them. They apparenetly are not issue items, and Sheriff Rice is concerned that his troops might look like the "Gestapo". He will not allow gloves until he sees some in a non-threatening color.

As a former resident of Pinellas County, I gotta wonder about this. Does this seem just a tad extreme, even for an elected official?

Anybody have comments or even some inside dope? http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Dave Kiefner
[i]Die Wahrheit ist eine Perle. Werfen sie nicht vor die S

[Argyle]

Oh man, you have hit a sore spot with me. The higher ups at my department also stated that they did not want us to wear black gloves. He said that they looked too "militant" and "menacing".

Never were we asked why we were them. Most of us wear black leather gloves lined with Kevlar or some sort of needle resistant lining. We use them for pat-downs and searching someone's person so that we might not be stuck with a hidden needle.

In my opinion, it is absurd for any official, chief, sheriff or whoever to prevent his troops from wearing the gloves.

[This message has been edited by Argyle (edited 04-20-2000).]

[GDenman]

I have to agree with the Sheriff on the looks being "militant" and "menacing". But I have to agree with Argyle on the useage. There should be some middle ground on having them wear them when necessary. Officers are issued protective gloves for blood cases but you don't see them wearing them around everywhere they go. Sure, if you already have gloves on, you're ready to go. But in 28 years of law enforcement I've only had one hand injury and it was minor. I did more damage to my body playing sports than I'd ever do in police work.

Anyway, there needs to be some public awareness on why officers wear the gloves, then they might not be so worried when approached by one wearing gloves. There is a good reason for wearing them. I doubt if a line of colored gloves will make the public feel any better and don't you know officers will want red, blue, orange, green, and yellow gloves. Maybe some pastels would be more pleasing. LOL.

Of course, Sheriffs and Chiefs can be absurd if they want about what their officers can wear. It's their agency!

[7@NGHS]

I find that Administrators worry about "public opinion" rather than officer safety.

In the last 13 years I have suffered several cuts to the hands and forearms during patdowns and confrontations involving edged weapons, not to mention the bloodborn pathegons and body fluids contacted. I have, as well as most of my agency, have the kevlar lined gloves for regular duty and we specify in policy, much to the higher ups complaints, what type/brand to purchase.

Also, the bike gloves that I wear, with no fingers, have drawn the MOST criticism.

I will use them, for personal safety, from now on and have explained to people why they are used.

Some understand and some don't care.

Give me yellow gloves, while you are at it change my sidearm to pink, with yellow flowers and my ASP to, ahhhh, I think flourescent orange with paisley prints. http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Stay safe, educate those you can, ignore those you can't.



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Eddie

[Tackleberry]

I have worn and own a pair of the black leather Kevlar gloves as previously stated but have since started to wear a pair of the NIKE batter gloves the are all black except the white nike letters and offer pretty good protection, I actually get alot of comments from the public as well as some BG's about my gloves. I've switched to these because I am better able to manipulate and use weapons off of my duty belt then with the bulkier kevlar lined gloves, I was also able to purchase several pair of the batter gloves for the cost of 1 pair of the kevlar gloves, granted it won't offer the added protection as the kevlar gloves do but some protection is better then nothing at all!


Tac

[Niteshift]

My last dept. made a big deal out of them too. We had the COPS crew riding with us and the dept. refused to allow several pretty entertaining segments be aired because deputies were wearing gloves. My current dept. could care less.

I think it's a bunch of crap. If someone says the word Gestapo, you think of swastika and boots that look like the ones your motor officers are wearing (even though it's not historicly accurate), not black gloves. I have 2 pairs, one thin pair for normal use and one with the fluid block for searching nasty looking types.

I will say this, the gloves do have a resuidual effect. I've noticed more than once people becoming more compliant with my directions when I start putting the gloves on. Most figure either someone is about to get arrested or, as I've heard from people in the crowd...Aww, sh#t, someone fixing to get an a@s whippin' http://www.officer.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif If it saves me from actually having to do it, all the better. Putting the gloves on is almost like a show of force.

[Tackleberry]

What's funny is that in the prison when we do put the black gloves on or respond to codes/situations with them, it really does mean someone's gonna get an *** whuppin'

Tac

Our prison department does not frown upon this but encourages us to wear them for protection. Although they did recently do away with gloves loaded with buckshot, Oh well you can't win em all!

[dkiefner]

>>>Although they did recently do away with gloves loaded with buckshot, Oh well you can't win em all!<<<

I would certainly comply in a big hurry, but I bet those really hurt when ya touch 'em off!

http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Niteshift]

It usually means a butt kicking is close at hand (no pun intended) with us too.....but always a well deserved one http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Roman]

At my last agency, we wore black BDUs complete with bloused pants and boots. Add a pair of black leather gloves and a black ballcap to that and the first time I looked in the mirror all suited up, I thought to myself, 'damn, you look like one bada*s mutha!' Suprisingly, we never got any complaints that I know of from the citizens, and I actually had a lot of people comment that they like the uniform! I'm generally a fairly progressive thinking person when it comes to law enforcement issues, but this one is just silly. For god's sake, we're police officers! We're *supposed* to look menacing! What next, are they going to forbid us from wearing sunglasses or cutting our hair too short? Perhaps the kinder gentler officer of the future will wear a Mr. Rogers sweater, tan slacks, and penny loafers! http://www.officer.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

[radar]

Of all the petty gripes I have heard, this is a winner. When I search a car or prisoner the black gloves go on and will continue to do so. Not pink, purple or green but black-well maybe navy when I find a good pair.

[radar]

Forgot to mention above, they definitely go on in drug raids and house searches.

[Roman]

On the topic of gloves... I have found that batting gloves are great for the job... they're probably not too useful for you cold weather folks, but for purposes of searching they are thin and retain a lot of feel, and provide a strong barrier against cuts...I have found that lined leather gloves are a bit too thick to effectively search a person. You can pick up a pair of black nike batting gloves for about $10 or less a pair... just black out the nike swoosh with a marker. They're machine washable, but at that price, you can throw them away if they get dirty.

[This message has been edited by Roman (edited 04-22-2000).]

[Sparky]

When I was in uniform, I had several pairs of Damascus gloves that were lined with Kevlar. I started out only wearing them if it was cold, or if I was doing a pat down where I was concerned about sticks or just plain scum. I wore them more to just help keep my hands off of these dirty scrotes.

The Damascus gloves are made of deerskin or goatskin and are thinner than cowhide. They fit better than most gloves too. They can even custom make them. The thinner leather and better fit allowed better sense of feel when operating my radio, etc. In fact, I could even keep them on when writing reports.

My feelings changed, however, when I made the TAC team and actually had to do alot of shooting under stress wearing gloves. It was much more difficult to fire, re-load, clear malfunctions, re-holster, etc. with our leather palmed Nomex gloves on. Most of us eventually cut off the first finger and thumb of both gloves. When I went to Breacher and started handling explosives (in the DARK, no less!) I really hated those gloves, but also really appreciated the flash fire protection.

Whatever you do, field test everything first! A gunfight is a little late to learn that your gloves screw up your shooting!

I still keep a pair of those Damascus gloves though. They cost a bit much, but you never regret it when you buy the best.

As far as the Nike gloves go, I think they look absolutely unprofessional. I am kind of a traditionalist though, and don't like baseball caps with a regular uniform either. BDU's or streetclothes as ID in a raid, OK. But a dress unifrom???

That's just me though. My wife says I'm picky. http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif

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-Sparky
Fiat justina.

[D. Ridley]

I hate to say this but if we were to all start wearing priest's robes someone would still say something negative about it. Something like, "damned if we do, damned if we dont."

Personally I wear gloves when I think the sh*t's about to hit the fan. Also, I like to wear them while patting someone down. My department is all about officer safety. I feel fortunite for that. Hell, my Chief will put on a uniform and patrol on occasion! How often do you hear that?

Y'all be safe!!! http://www.officer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by D. Ridley (edited 04-22-2000).]

[Roman]

Priest robes.....rofl!!!

[Patrick]

In my academy the DT instructors told us it would be smart to wear gloves to avoid being stuck with a needle or anything else.

Pat

[Traffic Dog]

It's always ends up being a matter of Public Perception vs. Officer Safety. Whatever the percepton of the public is, I know Im going home safe.
What I try to do when questioned is to take a minute and answer their question.Besides the possibility of getting poked with a needle or cut its also a matter of hygiene. Your skin is very absorbent and will adsorb anything from the common cold to hepetitus B into your bloodstream. Even though it may not effect you, it may effect someone in your family.
LEO's stay safe out there. Officer safety is #1 priority.

[connor]

And I thought I had the only idiot chief the country. Since he got hired five years ago we have had the following implemented:

1) No black gloves for the same reasons other have mentioned.

2) Switched from black to white cars because white is a friendly color.

3) No more Blauer pants (the ones with pockets on the sides of the pants) because they look too militant.

I'm sorry but if a chief really wants to make the officers look friendly then he should ban crewcuts and weightlifting. A big buff cop with a crew cut is pretty imposing compared to a scrawny one with long hair. Its policies like banning black gloves which are geared more towards public relations than police effectiveness that are a major factor in undermining police moral and efficiency.

[Roman]

Connor, your chief has a point with the cars... maybe we should all be driving yellow VW Beetles... and y'know, the more I think about it, those guns and sticks we carry make us look really intimidating! http://www.officer.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Niteshift]

For several years, our Port Authority (aka Airport cops) carried no impact weapons because of the image. No spray either. So the force continuum went from empty hand to gun with no stops in between.

I'm going to run out right now and buy a big smiley face sticker for my car and a rainbow pin for my uniform........maybe their laughter will help make them easy to subdue. http://www.officer.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

[Don]

Give me a good pair of loaded gloves any day. And by the way, a beaver tail to go in the sap pockets. It's what God intended sap pockets for! http://www.officer.com/ubb/cool.gif

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Stay safe out there,
6P1