Abstract
Background:
Law enforcement officers are required to wear and carry loads as part of their occupation. Research detailing differences in loads carried across occupational subgroups in law enforcement is limited.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to profile the loads carried by an Australian State police agency and investigate whether any occupational subgroup, or sex-based, differences existed.
Methods:
Data from 88 officers across five different stations from the same agency were collected. Officers were weighed in their uniforms without, and with, their duty load. Duty load was calculated as both absolute and relative values. Independent samples t-tests were used to investigate differences between sexes. An ANOVA was used to compare loads between occupational subgroups. Alpha levels were set at 0.05.
Results:
Female officers were significantly shorter and lighter than male officers, carried significantly lighter absolute loads but similar relative loads. General Duties (9.47±1.67 kg) and Bicycle officers (10.38 ±0.37 kg) carried and wore significantly heavier absolute loads than plain clothes officers (6.71 ±2.26 kg), while specialist police carried significantly heavier loads than all subgroups (15.72±2.13 kg). A similar trend was found in relative loads (General Duties=11.1 ± 2.1%, specialist police=17.0±3.6%) except for Bicycle officer relative loads (10.9 ±1.6%) which were not significantly heavier than those of plain clothes officers (7.9 ±2.9%).
Conclusion:
Different subgroups of officers carry and wear different loads. These differences warrant consideration especially when considering the chronic impacts of wearing these loads across a career. Optimised load fit and physical
conditioning are recommended to mitigate the occupational impacts of carrying these loads.
Law enforcement officers are required to wear and carry loads as part of their occupation. Research detailing differences in loads carried across occupational subgroups in law enforcement is limited.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to profile the loads carried by an Australian State police agency and investigate whether any occupational subgroup, or sex-based, differences existed.
Methods:
Data from 88 officers across five different stations from the same agency were collected. Officers were weighed in their uniforms without, and with, their duty load. Duty load was calculated as both absolute and relative values. Independent samples t-tests were used to investigate differences between sexes. An ANOVA was used to compare loads between occupational subgroups. Alpha levels were set at 0.05.
Results:
Female officers were significantly shorter and lighter than male officers, carried significantly lighter absolute loads but similar relative loads. General Duties (9.47±1.67 kg) and Bicycle officers (10.38 ±0.37 kg) carried and wore significantly heavier absolute loads than plain clothes officers (6.71 ±2.26 kg), while specialist police carried significantly heavier loads than all subgroups (15.72±2.13 kg). A similar trend was found in relative loads (General Duties=11.1 ± 2.1%, specialist police=17.0±3.6%) except for Bicycle officer relative loads (10.9 ±1.6%) which were not significantly heavier than those of plain clothes officers (7.9 ±2.9%).
Conclusion:
Different subgroups of officers carry and wear different loads. These differences warrant consideration especially when considering the chronic impacts of wearing these loads across a career. Optimised load fit and physical
conditioning are recommended to mitigate the occupational impacts of carrying these loads.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-7 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Work (Reading, Mass.) |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 13 Feb 2026 |
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Profiling loads worn by a state police service while on duty'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Cite this
- APA
- Author
- BIBTEX
- Harvard
- Standard
- RIS
- Vancouver