You have seen C.H.I.P.S., or maybe your parents have. The show about the California Highway Patrol Service officers is an iconic piece of television history, but there are patrol officers that still ride motorcycles. These officers rely on helmets to protect their heads. There are other kinds of officers and police helmets that protect those officers as well. Each helmet has a primary benefit and function, with additional shared benefits. Additionally, anyone looking to buy police helmets cannot substitute a football helmet in its place, despite what you may think.
The Three Types of Police Helmets
Different officers require different headgear. The police officers on motorcycles utilize a motorcycle helmet that is constructed not only with accident protection in mind but also with blunt force trauma layer and a layer of bullet-proof material to protect the officers' skulls in the event that they are being shot at while chasing a vehicle on the highway. Protecting the officers' skulls is essential to their survival when they work from the seat of a motorcycle.
There are also helmets for officers who ride horses. You are more likely to see this kind of helmet on the head of a police officer in New York City, where mounted officers will chase criminals on horseback in order to get around high traffic areas. The helmets protect their heads from low-lying tree limbs, store signs, objects falling from above, and the possibility of being thrown from a horse. Since an officer's horse is more likely to be shot in the line of duty and while the mounted officer is chasing a suspect, these helmets are rarely bullet-proof. The helmets just cushion the fall so that the officer does not crack his/her skull open or get a concussion.
Correctional helmets have a face shield to protect officers from blood, urine, feces, spit, and poisons or pepper spray during a prison or correctional facility riot or dealing with troublesome prisoners. The helmets themselves are akin to the ones worn by soldiers and can protect the officers' heads from blows by prisoners. They resemble a football helmet with a face shield, but they provide a lot more protection to the back, top, and base of the skull.
Riot helmets look very similar to the correctional helmets, minus the face gate/guard. They have a plastic face shield as well to prevent having bodily fluids and excrement flung into the faces of the officers. The officers attempting to quiet a riot need to see and protect their eyesight just as correctional officers do. The main difference here is that there is a flap on the back of the helmet to protect the back of the officers' necks, where rioters may attempt to strike.
Why You Cannot Use a Football Helmet Instead
As funny as it might seem, football helmets are only designed to withstand mild to moderate impact from the front and sides of the helmet. Football helmets are also not constructed to fully protect the face, the back of the head, and the ears and neck. There are large ear holes in a football helmet that would allow attackers to pierce the eardrums with sharp objects.
The very open faces of a football helmet cannot protect officers against full frontal attacks. It has been proven that football helmets do not prevent concussions and brain damage either. They just soften the injuries a little until the cumulative injuries to the head create a substantial health problem. That is why police officers need their extra-special headgear and do not simply substitute football helmets in place of their police helmets for their personal protection.
