Law Enforcement Urged to Wear Body Armor by JOEH
A study says those who wore body armor were over twice as likely to survive a shooting.
A new study published in the American Industrial Hygiene Association's Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH) found that law enforcement officers who wear body armor are 77 percent less likely to die from being shot than those who did not wear body armor.
According to the association's news release, 12 percent of officers choose not to wear body armor despite these facts. There are a number of factors that determine whether or not an office will wear body armor, including: age, BMI, rank, and geographic region. The same officers who are least likely to survive gunshot wounds are the same ones who are least likely to wear body armor.
Researchers WeiWei Lie and Bruce Taylor said in the report, "Police agencies need to target older, overweight officers, and those assigned to detective and undercover assignments when enforcing armor related policies.... Agencies in the [southern U.S.] need to pay special attention to mandatory wearing policies."