Bicycle Response Team Uniforms: To Viz or Not to Viz?

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by Jason Bain, PCI #1046-B/EMSCI #278-B
Saint Paul (MN) Police Department
IPMBA Membership Coordinator

I have been around bikes since about 2002 and have been teaching the Police Cyclist Course since 2007. I have been involved with Bicycle Response Teams (BRT) since then as well. The question that always arises when we have a training class is: “What uniforms do you wear or should we wear?” I have personally gone around and around with this question.

Since I became involved with bike patrol, I have seen and worn many different styles of bike uniforms. I have also worn several different styles of BRT-specific uniforms.

From a standard patrol uniform without any added equipment or extra High-Viz material, to a standard patrol uniform with department-issued traffic vest topped off with a gas mask and a large can of OC in a thigh rig, I’ve worn them all.

This past year, we have been wearing our traffic vests on every BRT deployment. I have experienced some difficulties while wearing the traffic vest while riding in BRT deployments, including the vest not fitting properly and/or getting hooked or snagged on objects as I rode by. In addition, the traffic vest adds another layer of clothing, which prevents air flow and subsequently the natural body cooling afforded to us by high-performance uniform shirts.

That said, I personally like wearing High-Viz during BRT deployments, especially when inside large crowds. Wearing High-Viz enables us to be seen more easily by the crowds and by other officers if they are coming to our support. This can be accomplished by wearing one of the two-tone uniform shirts that are out on the market. In addition, several uniform companies will make the uniform shirts with matching exterior vest carriers. I believe this would be the best of both worlds: you reap the safety benefit of the High-Viz, but you gain the ability to remove your body armor to cool off when in a safe location.

I have heard several arguments against wearing High-Viz uniforms; the main one being that we are just “sitting ducks”, standing out from the crowd. However, as law enforcement officers, we have no choice but to look like we are from the Police/Sheriff’s department.

I have read in a couple of After Action Reports, that “during large scale detail or special events, all officers will wear High-Viz traffic vests or High-Viz uniforms until that uniform possesses a risk to their safety.” The main scenario I can think of is an elevated active shooter who is specifically targeting public safety officials. This would be an instance in which wearing High-Viz would be a huge detriment.

One of my co-workers is currently putting together a proposal for our department to adopt a two-toned uniform shirt with a matching exterior vest carrier in High-Viz for special events and BRT deployments, paired with a royal blue top and dark blue bottom for our everyday bike patrol uniform. I believe this would give us both the UNIFORM look we as a department want and the safety features we need.

If you are interested in joining an online discussion on this topic or any other related to BRTs, send an FB message to the IPMBA page with a request to join the IPMBA BRT Group.

Jason has been a police officer since 1995 and a bike officer since 2002. He became a member of IPMBA in 2007 and was also certified as an Instructor. He has since earned EMSCI and BRTT Instructor status. He has been instrumental in starting his department’s bike officer community engagement unit, the Saint Paul “Bike Cops for Kids”. He has recently been assigned to his department’s Special Operations unit in charge of the bike units and special events. He is currently the Membership Coordinator for your Board of Directors. His email is Jbain7004@msn.com and he would welcome emails regarding this topic as well as any other.

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