Your Equipment

[Prison Po-Leece]

At my prison, quite a few officers and sergeants, at their expense, utilize duty belts, cuff cases, even flashlights and lapel mics. I have all the above and find them very useful and the look is more professional. The convicts have a little bit more respect for the ones that do. That isn't to say you can't be effective with bare bones equipment. But when you see an officer carrying a radio in their back pocket, you get the impression they don't give a ****.

I didn't purchase these things to look cool. I work in seg and need everything. I even purchased gloves and a holder for cell searches. The lapel mic saved me one time and that's one time plenty to keep it!! Anyway, has anyone else gone the extra mile? Does your prison even allow those items?

[OfficerPedde]

My prison does, and I agree with you it does look more professional. We are issued handcuff case, glove pouch, pepper spray and holder. I have a duty belt, the standard issued stuff, but also have a radio pouch, key clips, flashlight and holder. It is more functional and looks a heck of a lot better than just using the pants belt with the standard issue stuff attatched to it and a radio hanging off of your pocket. (a big reason why DOC has crappy radios)

[zmurphy]

Originally Posted by Prison Po-Leece

At my prison, quite a few officers and sergeants, at their expense, utilize duty belts, cuff cases, even flashlights and lapel mics. I have all the above and find them very useful and the look is more professional. The convicts have a little bit more respect for the ones that do. That isn't to say you can't be effective with bare bones equipment. But when you see an officer carrying a radio in their back pocket, you get the impression they don't give a ****.

I too purchased my own duty belt, handcuff case, radio case, a larger glove pouch. at my facility, most CO's including myself use a carabiner (normally used for mountain climbing) for a key holder and it works great. once i started working i noticed almost every CO at my facility had their own duty belt, which i do think looks more professional that the few CO's that don't use a true duty belt. plus its nice to be able to remove the duty belt when going home, instead of having to take my pants belt off to remove all the hand out equipment and cases.

all our radios already have lapel mics on them, its nice and i would buy my own if i needed to. out of curiousity, how much are the lapel mics?

now if the administration would just do something about the CO's who come to work in uniforms that look they have been washed or ironed, EVER! and the ones who come to work in worn out black basketball or tennis shoes (literally falling apart, unreal) or the ones that have a bunch of mud on their duty boots....

[mizzlane3]

how much does all thiis equiptment cost u guys?

[shakedownshorti]

I had that stuff....that what I did, that's how I rolled!

[OfficerPedde]

The equipment that I bought cost me no more than 140 bucks.

[mizzlane3]

thanks alot...ill look into that when my time comes

[zmurphy]

I bought all Bianchi Patroltek stuff. its their lower end line but its nice stuff. i went w/ the Patroltek because they have the regular pants belt that has velcro on the outside of it and the duty belt has the opposite side of the velcro. that eliminates the need for belt keepers (saves about $10-12) and its a little more convenient (which IMO is a big part of using your own duty belt).

i bought mine local, but i would highly recommend buying online, MUCH cheaper! whether its Bianachi or what ever brand, there are some off brands that would be fine too. even look at ebay.

can't remember what all my stuff cost, but keep in mind, what ever you buy keep your receipts. you're buying it strictly for your job and are not being reimbursed (from the state) so it qualifies as a tax deduction. this goes for your boots/shoes too.

[Prison Po-Leece]

I actually just purchased a new radio holster that's really nice. It's Safariland and has straps that you can loosen or tighten and fits perfectly around the radio. I also just mail ordered 2 new cuff cases called perfect fit. Good equipment makes better officers.

[mizzlane3]

where do we get this stuff and what exactly is issued on the first day of work?