Load outs

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

The police are actually An Garda Siochana - Peace Keepers - Irish police from County Antrim. They don't carry firearms except in unusual circumstances. Since this is a Security and Protection detail, however, they might be armed.

Basic loadout is here.

The load-bearing vest is probably knife resistant since cops in the British Isles are more likely to encounter knives than guns.

The tall cop on the left hand side might be carrying a British style police whistle on the carabiner on his belt.

Unknown contents of the large pouch are probably first aid kit, latex gloves, paperwork of various sorts (e.g., blank parking tickets), pen or pencil, inspection mirror (for looking under cars/around corners, can be attached to a collapsible baton, ditto for the smart phone), evidence bags, and perhaps spare mags for any weapons they might be carrying.

Maybe hand sanitizer, KN95 mask, and personal items.

Possibly steel-toed shoes. Trousers might be slash resistant.

One ... small ... correction. They won't be gardai from Antrim ... Antrim is in Ulster, so they're British PSNI officers. My note above about the British police not being routinely armed may not apply in Ulster. It certainly didn't use to, but the peace process may have changed that.
Still, all other things being equal, British police are most likely to be carrying a baton and pepper spray as their only armament. Tasers are rare except in high crime areas and firearms even more so. In US terms, think of it as close to "SWAT or nothing" when it comes to firearms.

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

On closer look
All have Glock19* + vest

A short read on NI police suggests that the pistols are Glock 17 rather than 19.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Any officer on a force that uses zipties should have a sturdy pocketknife capable of severing zipties. It's the only way to get subjects out of zipties and sometimes it may be necessary for safety or health reasons. It'd be a major legal liability issue if a subject in your custody came to harm because no one could get him out of a ziptie.

If movies have taught me anything, pretty much all officers will have a sturdy pocketknife, for cutting open secret compartments, cutting open bags of illicit drugs (after which they'll invariably taste it, as that is well-accepted as the most appropriate method of on-the-scene identification of an unknown substance), disarming bombs (a skill every beat cop knows, naturally), etc.

More seriously, though, a good knife is extremely useful for anyone who doesn't just follow the same simple routine every day, and with the highly-variable situations an officer may find him or herself in, this goes double. Have someone trapped in their vehicle by a non-cooperative seatbelt? Knife. Abused dog getting choked by a too-tight collar? Knife. Attempted suicide via hanging? Knife. Kidnapping victim bound with rope, tape, and/or zipties (it's not just the cops that use those)? Knife. Need to remove part of a person's clothing to be able to render life-saving first-aid before the paramedics can arrive? Knife.

Originally Posted by The Colonel

My note above about the British police not being routinely armed may not apply in Ulster. It certainly didn't use to, but the peace process may have changed that.

It certainly looks like they're armed with pistols of some flavor. The guy who is second from the right very clearly looks to be armed, the guy on the left looks to also have similar but there's something in front that's attached to a lanyard and has a red button on it... pepper spray, maybe? The lady looks similarly armed, although in her case the weapon is rather obscured by her hand, the Queen's Baton (I presume that's the thing she's holding), and some pouches. The (slightly-blurry) guy on the far right has the area his weapon would be holstered completely obscured by the combination of his hand and the arm of the guy next to him.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

One ... small ... correction. They won't be gardai from Antrim ... Antrim is in Ulster, so they're British PSNI officers.

Grr. You're right, of course, and a big error on my part. CF on Geography (Physical). I saw Antrim and thought Ireland, forgetting that it's actually a part of the Province of Ulster, which is Northern Ireland.

The Garda loadout would work well for a typical British Isles unarmed police officer. Ulster cops are (at least historically) more heavily armed and armored, and might have a loadout more like American police - including ballistic vests, firearms, and spare clips/speedloaders. The same holds true for armed police in other parts of the UK.

My other comments stand.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Varyon

It certainly looks like they're armed with pistols of some flavor.

The important thing here is that unless they're the equivalent of SWAT officers, even armed police downplay the fact that they're strapped. Compare the picture above to pictures of some U.S. police. Their holsters are designed and mounted so they're not as conspicuous and don't get caught on things rather than being optimized for fast draw. Maybe a retention holster with a top flap? The flap would be useful at keeping out the wet.

The "semi-concealed carry" theme could be carried over into carrying spare clips in that big pouch on the chest rather than in distinctive cases worn on the belt.

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by Varyon

More seriously, though, a good knife is extremely useful for anyone who doesn't just follow the same simple routine every day, and with the highly-variable situations an officer may find him or herself in, this goes double. Have someone trapped in their vehicle by a non-cooperative seatbelt? Knife. Abused dog getting choked by a too-tight collar? Knife. Attempted suicide via hanging? Knife. Kidnapping victim bound with rope, tape, and/or zipties (it's not just the cops that use those)? Knife. Need to remove part of a person's clothing to be able to render life-saving first-aid before the paramedics can arrive? Knife.

Hell yeah. For over thirty years now, I go everywhere (everywhere they'll let me, anyway) with the same Swiss Army knife. It's held up very well over the decades.

[jacobmuller]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

A short read on NI police suggests that the pistols are Glock 17 rather than 19.

Ah, thank you, yes. I think I'm fixating on the magazine capacity and conflating it with model number (never mind actually getting even the mag cap wrong too).
PS yup, Antrim is in the part of Ulster still occasionally counted as part of the UK, so PSNI not gardai. And we still have punishment shootings, riots, bomb threats, IEDs under PSNI cars, fake emergency calls to target first responders... Much more peaceful than it was but even these unpaid volunteer community policing folk are armed & armoured.
PPS I wouldn't be surprised to discover not one of them has so much as a penknife. Weirdly knife phobic culture here - I'm weird in that I always carry this simple tool (must be under 3") and that fact makes some folk afraid. Heaven forfend I should go out and forget to leave my hori-hori off my belt.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

PPS I wouldn't be surprised to discover not one of them has so much as a penknife. Weirdly knife phobic culture here - I'm weird in that I always carry this simple tool (must be under 3") and that fact makes some folk afraid. Heaven forfend I should go out and forget to leave my off my belt.

Should that be the case, they might carry paramedic's shears instead of a knife. Good for cutting seat belts, ropes, or zip ties, but not so good as a weapon.

Given that IEDs are a potential threat, an inspection mirror which can be clipped to the end of an extendable baton, or the capacity to mount the body cam on the baton and send data to the officer's phone, might be standard kit.

[Rupert]

Some years ago on another forum, a Police officer from an English rural force gave a list of the stuff they carried in their cars, which might be a useful addition to the lists we're making here of carried gear.

A couple of people asked me recently what is kept in the back of our patrol cars (allegedly for gaming purposes), so I thought I would share the answer here.

Unlike fire engines and ambulances, most patrol cars contain nothing interesting whatsoever. Ours have the following:
A toughbook or Mobile Data Terminal (which doesn't work and won't until they get round to selecting a new service provider)
A car radio with press-to-talk button on the steering wheel and a handset in the footwell of the passenger seat (replaces the AM/FM radio so no listening to music)
A glass hammer/seatbelt cutter
A-Z directory for the county
Roadside breath test device and spare tubes
Digital camera (for quick crime scene photos)
Shovel and broom (for clearing debris of roads)
First Aid kit
Major Incident Kit (scene log, search record, spare evidence bags, gloves, etc)
Fuel dipping kit (theft/misuse of agricultural diesel is common in our area)
Roll of police tape
"Authorities Aware" stickers (for putting on broken down/abandoned vehicles)
Traffic cones
Accident signs
Tape measure
Throwing line (for water rescues)
Fire extinguisher
Leg restraints

Most police officers also stick their own kit bag on the back seat. Mine contains:
Spares of every ticket book and form we use
Pens
A couple of bottles of water
More evidence bags and a couple of knife tubes
A spare box of latex gloves in my size
My black anti-puncture gloves
Jacket
Hi-vis jacket and trousers
Some extra first aid kit, plus Ibuprofen and Immodium
Up-to-date copy of Blackstone's Police Operational Manual (lots and lots of laws in a thick but easy to reference book)
Spare torch
Batteries
Flat hat
Snood
Woolly hat
Kindle Fire loaded with books, films and TV series (for seals and road closures)
Dog lead (for strays/lost dogs)

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Some years ago on another forum, a Police officer from an English rural force gave a list of the stuff they carried in their cars, which might be a useful addition to the lists we're making here of carried gear.

For really rural areas, possibly add a horse bridle (for stray horses), some sort of large animal lead (for other stray livestock), and possibly wire cutters and a bow saw for cutting wood (useful for cutting tree branches which have fallen across the road). Snacks, a few trash bags, a spare emergency blanket/signal panel, and a pair of bolt cutters might be useful kit for any police car.

Perhaps add a discrete "relief bottle" if you're likely to be stuck in a place with no toilet facilities.