Seatbelts tangle up KC police officers over safety and security

[Skippys]

"...Some officers don’t buckle up while on duty.

It’s against state law. It’s against department policy. Yet some officers simply refuse. They don’t want their gun to get tangled up in the seatbelt.

...Officer Serge Grinik, who suffered the head injury in December’s wreck, always wore his seatbelt on duty until an incident about three months before the wreck, according to his attorney, Mike Yonke.

A man who appeared to have a gun marched up to Grinik’s patrol car. Grinik tried to get out of his car, but his gun got tangled in his seatbelt. His partner — who was not wearing a seatbelt — hopped out and subdued the suspect.

“He (Grinik) said he’d rather risk being hurt in a wreck than be executed in his car....”

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[atctimmy]

Tough choice there. I'd say you need to go with what's more likely to kill you in your car. A BG or a crash?

Maybe if the public knows about the problem someone will invent a better mousetrap for police cruisers. My first though is just a single padded chest trap that rides across the torso up high. My idea (in my head) looks like the old lap belt but is padded and is attached to the seat up high. It would come under the armpits and buckle across the chest.

[goldshellback]

I've always said that there needs to be a better seatbelt system in place for all police units......a five-point harness or something similar.

Ya know, if I can desighn something and get it copyrighted................

[dsee11789]

http://www.officerstore.com/store/pr...rown_victoria/

[Xader]

I've always felt that a handgun carried on the hip is a liability in any car.

I knew one officer who carried in a thigh holster, but had it rotated to about 1:00. It was quick and easy to draw in any position, and didn't get hung up in vehicles

[usmc3169]

Any time I was going over 25mph Seatbelt was on - residential areas, stop lights, or parked it was off. Problem solved.

[AZ Husker]

Since there are more civilians getting carjacked or robbed than police officers, should the same rules apply to them?

[Chad Rogers]

My rule of thumb is 20-25 MPH.

[Tala]

I always kinda wondered about this (the cops who write us tickets for no seatbelt, themselves do not wear them).

Makes sense to me though.
By the same train of thought, pizza drivers get robbed at gunpoint rather frequently. Perhaps I should stop wearing mine on the same account. Bet that would fly in traffic court

[dripster]

I say click it on pursuits, unclick it when you are on routine patrol.

[hogdaddy]

Most go through classes (Defensive Driving) & are taught to unbuckel well before they get to destination at least 3 agencies I know of ; )
H/D

[Old School]

My agency requires the use of seatbelts. That said the belt comes off before you get to the scene of any call and you never let anyone approch your vehicle with your seat belt hooked up. The fact of the matter is you should never let anyone approch your vehicle without you getting out of the vehicle if at all possible and most of the time it is possible.

[Guantes]

I'm with dripster, hot calls, pursuits, etc, it gets clicked, other wise not.

When they first came out with the combination waist and cross body belts in radio cars, they were the old two separate pieces hooked together near/on the buckle insert, rather than the one piece units of today. Guys started cutting the cross body part off until a memo came out that anyone caught doing so would get days off.

[10thmtn]

Tough choice there. I'd say you need to go with what's more likely to kill you in your car. A BG or a crash?

Maybe if the public knows about the problem someone will invent a better mousetrap for police cruisers. My first though is just a single padded chest trap that rides across the torso up high. My idea (in my head) looks like the old lap belt but is padded and is attached to the seat up high. It would come under the armpits and buckle across the chest.

Most people have no idea of the forces involved in a crash. Unfortunately, I do. I've been hit so many times, I sometimes feel like I have a target painted on my car.

This idea would likely remove your arms and/or decapitate you in a severe crash. Ugh.

You are much more likely to get in a crash than a shoot out. More officers die in crashes than in shoot outs. Wear your seatbelt if the car is moving, or if you are parked where you can get rear ended.

Even a crash at "only" 20 mph can cause serious injuries or death.

That gizmo in post #4 looks interesting, but I'm not sure the shoulder belt will work as designed with that thing in place.

Best bet may be a holster mounted to the inside of the car, where you can stow your sidearm within easy reach. Or, just make sure to unbuckle when you are parked somewhere...assuming little risk of getting rear ended.

Side note - all those idiots who drive with the seat reclined all the way back not only have a hard time seeing out of the car while "stylin,'" they also will "submarine" under the lap belt in a crash and get their heads taken off.

[64zebra]

our dept policy is to wear them and we do.....however when we get 2 or 3 blocks away from our call it comes off to be ready, or if we come up on something it comes off
NEVER let someone approach the car, get the belt off and get out to them

side note...I had a pursuit 2 weeks ago, suspect turned off his lights and doing over 70 through a residential area, I was in the process of terminating the pursuit when he wrecked so I proceeded that direction and unbuckled my belt as I was getting stopped and saw guy running away....my seatbelt tangled on the bottom of my holster as I was trying to get out and chase on foot
got the passenger but driver got away