Performance of police personal protective equipment challenged with a military grenade
| Author | M Lee,C Malbon,BD Smith,E Nelson,GR Turner,DJ Carr,MGG Williams |
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X18785859 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Performance of police
personal protective
equipment challenged
with a military grenade
MGG Williams, GR Turner, M Lee, BD Smith
Technology School, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom,
Shrivenham, UK
DJ Carr and C Malbon
Impact and Armour Group, Centre for Defence Engineering, Cranfield
University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, UK;
Defence and Security Accelerator, Porton Down, Salisbury, UK
E Nelson
Technology School, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom,
Shrivenham, UK
Abstract
Police body armour in the United Kingdom (UK) is designed to provide protection from
edged weapons and low-velocity pistol ammunition. Recent events have raised concern about
whetherUKpolicebodyarmourandassociatedpersonal protective equipment (PPE) pro-
vides protection from military threats such as improvised explosive devices (IED) and gre-
nades. In this paper PPE worn by specialised police officers was assessed for its protective
performance from a specified grenade threat. The major cause of injury suffered by police
officers challenged by a modern military grenade would be from the associated fragmentation
which perforated coveralls, boots, helmet and soft body armour, but not hard armour plates.
Keywords
Hand-grenade, perforation, penetration, body armour, helmet, coveralls, boots, injury
Corresponding author:
DJ Carr, Impact and Armour Group, Centre for Defence Engineering, Cranfield University, Defence Academy
of the UK, Shrivenham, Wiltshire, UK. Now at: Defence and Security Accelerator, Porton Down, Salisbury,
Wiltshire, UK.
Email: djcarr@dstl.gov.uk
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2019, Vol. 92(3) 191–202
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X18785859
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