Police equipment and technology
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What is body armour designed to do?
Police Operational Requirements, which are produced for all personal protective equipment has determined that the protection provided by ballisitic and stab-resistant body armour (most armour now offers dual protection) must be sufficient to prevent the wearer from sustaining serious or permanent injury.
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Who decides what sort of body armour the police will wear?
The decision on what body armour is purchased for police officers is made by individual police forces after carrying out a risk assessment. This covers issues like the range of duties their officers are likely to carry out and the threats posed in different situations. Different levels of protection may be required depending on the local threat and the tactics employed.
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How do police know that body armour will work as it is supposed to?
HOSDB sets performance levels for body armour. These are applied using a common test method which requires manufacturers to submit their armour to one of our approved test houses for full compliance testing to the appropriate threat level(s). If the armour passes all the required tests, the armour and the results are sent to HOSDB for final evaluation for quality and consistency. Once we are satisfied that all is in order, we issue the compliance documentation to the manufacturer.
The current test standards were produced in 2003. They consist of five levels of ballisitic protection - two 'typical' handgun levels HG1/A and HG1, a high handgun/carbine level HG2 which is suitable for Firearms Officers, a shotgun level SG1 and a rifle level RF1. In addition we provide three stab-resistant levels - KR1, KR2 and KR3.
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How do I find out whether a speed camera has been type-approved?
Type approval documentation is issued by the Road Crime Section of the Home Office. Details of type-approved devices are on the Home Office website:
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational-policing/road-traffic.html?view=Standard
The process for manufacturers for obtaining type approval is set out in our publication no. 15/05 The Speedmeter Handbook - 4th Edition Provisional.
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Where can I find test houses for laser based speed enforcement?
The test houses listed below in the UK and across Europe are approved for carrying out type approval tests to our specifications. No test house in the UK has NAMAS approval for testing against BS EN 60825-1: 2001, but providing the test house accepts responsibility, we are willing to accept tests from Lasermet if submitted through the test house. The test houses in Europe have been able to get the tests done.
UK Test houses
Hunting Communication Technology Ltd.
RSRE
Pershore
Worcestershire
WR10 2RW
Tel: +44 (0)1386 555522
Intertek Testing & Certification Ltd
ETL SEMKO division
Intertek House
Cleeve Road
Leatherhead
Surrey
KT22 7SB
Tel: +44 (0)1372 370900
Fax: +44 (0)1372 370999
TUV Product Service
Octagon House
Concorde Way
Fareham
Hampshire
PO15 5 Rl
Tel: +44 (0)1489 558100
TraC EMC & Safety Ltd
100 Frobisher Business Park
Leigh Sinton Road
Malvern
Worcestershire
WR14 1BXTel: +44 (0) 1684 571 700
Fax: +44 (0) 168 571 701Mi Technology Group Ltd
Aston Way
Leyland
Preston
PR5 3TZTel: +44 (0) 1772 425 483
Fax: +44 (0) 1772 621 466
EMC Business Group Manager
Electromagnetic (EMC) Group
Spectrum Solutions Department
Bldg A5, Room 1005
QinetiQ
Cody Technology Park
Ively Road
Farnborough
Hants GU14 0LX
Tel: +44 (0)1252 392612
Fax: +44 (0)1252 397058
European test houses
NMI Certin B V(Nederlands Meetinstituut)
Hugo de Grootplein 1
Postbus 394
3300 AJ Dordrecht
Netherlands
Tel: 31 78 6332332
Fax: 31 78 6332309
Mr Michels
PTB
Bundesallee 100
38116 Braunschweig
Germany
Tel: 00 49 531 592 16 30
Fax: 00 49 531 592 13 05
Swedish National Testing Institute
Electronics, Traffic Equipment
Brinellgatan 4
Box 857
S - 501 15 Borås
Sweden
Tel: 00 46 33165579
Fax: 00 46 33125038
