Tactical vests worn by law enforcement: is this improving stability for optimal job performance?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether equipped tactical vests would improve postural stability of law enforcement officers (LEOs) versus a duty belt or without either condition. Volunteers were police officers ( = 25, 22 males, three females; age 42.4 ± 3.2 years; weight 101.65 ± 19.4 kg; height 178.92 ± 8.2 cm). The Institutional Review Board approved the investigation. A Bertec posturography plate (Bertec Inc., USA) determined four center of pressure (CoP) scores - eyes open stable surface (EOSS), eyes closed stable surface (ECSS), eyes open perturbed surface (EOPS), eyes closed perturbed surface (ECPS) - and four limit of stability (LoS) scores - frontal plane (LoSF), posterior plane (LoSP), left sagittal plane (LoSL), right sagittal plane (LoSR). . A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) demonstrated no statistical difference within subject group CoP scores EOSS ( = 0.723), ECSS ( = 0.252), EOPS ( = 0.079) and ECPS ( = 0.137). Comparing between groups, the tactical vest demonstrated significance over the other CoP group conditions with ECPS ( = 0.001). The duty belt group showed significance with ECSS ( = 0.001). LoS variables indicated no significant results between groups. Tactical vests demonstrated improvements in ECPS scores ( = 0.001) compared to either group.