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Armored Mobility Provides Lightweight Level III

by Randall

February 4th, 2012

Richard, Aaron, and I were meandering around after lunch at 2012 SHOT Show Media Day when we came across the Armored Mobility, Inc (AMI) display. We were able to speak at length with company president Michael Berritto III, who was proud to show us his innovative Mobile Armored Shield (MAS).

Quite a few things stood out about this ballistic shield. At NIJ Standard 0101.06 Level III, AMI states the MAS will stop (pistol and) rifle rounds to include:

7.62mm X 51 M80 NATO FMJ
5.56mm LeMas Urban Warfare
5.56mm M193 FMJ
6.8mm 110 gr OTM
30-06 M2 FMJ
7.62mm X 39 M43 Steel Core FMJ
12 Gauge High Velocity Slug
(Armored Mobility notes–will not stop 5.56 M855 green tip)

The 15” X 38” Mobile Armored Shield does this at a weight of just 16 pounds! Many shields on the market possess only Level IIIa capability at nearly double the weight. The 18” X 38” MAS weighs 22 lbs.

Categories 2012 SHOT Show, Body Armor, SWAT
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SWATSCOPE Surveillance Tool Review

by Randall

January 19th, 2012

Tony Leonti is the designer of the SWATSCOPE by Micro-Times, LLC. He took time out at his very busy booth at SHOT Show 2012 to give us a tour of his tactical periscope.

The SWATSCOPE is a hand held tactical sniper periscope that extends 22 1/2″ above the operator and provides a safe view of hostile territory with a 4X to 9X zoom lens. The aluminum body of the scope is sheathed in 4 mil removable 3M CamoClad material that is flat black. The optics consist of high quality glass prisms and lenses.

Some kind of magic goes on inside the angled tubes of this SWATSCOPE that keeps the image viewed through the eyepiece at the proper upright orientation to the user, no matter how the unit is rotated! It can even be turned 90 degrees to look around a corner and be viewed normally without adjustment. This makes for canting one’s head or trying to decipher a sideways image unnecessary.

Categories 2012 SHOT Show, Gear and Holsters, SWAT
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Uncle Mike’s Shot Gunner’s Vest

by Randall

December 23rd, 2011

Uncle Mike’s Law Enforcement products has brought out a load-bearing vest alternately called a Breacher’s Vest or Shot Gunner’s Vest that has a dual application for police officers.

This vest is build specifically for the officer or operator who needs to take aboard a large payload of shotgun shells. Previously, I told you how I felt about the police shotgun in today’s patrol environment and it was favorable.

A shotgun is also a valuable tool in a SWAT situation. The shotgun is undoubtedly the most devastating close quarter weapon that can be wielded by a team member. In some agencies, the shotgun is employed to facilitate door breaching.

Categories Gear and Holsters, SWAT
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Negotiations via Facebook

by Richard

November 17th, 2011

How do you negotiate with an armed subject who is barricaded inside a shed? Facebook, of course.

A negotiator from the Pasco County (FL) Sheriff’s Office was able to make contact with a barricaded gunman through Facebook. It seems the subject was holed up in a backyard shed with a handgun and a computer. The negotiator was not able to establish contact via phone, but learned the man had a Facebook account. So, he sent a friend request to the gunman.

The subject accepted the friend request, and entered into chat with the negotiator. Eventually, the man came out and was taken into custody without injury.

Good thinking on the negotiator’s part to use all of the options available to him to resolve the incident peacefully. More information at the St. Petersburg Times.

By the way, you can connect with BlueSheepdog on Facebook as well.

Categories SWAT
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Tactical Pole Camera Operations

by Randall

October 19th, 2011

In this article, I’ll discuss some basic tactical applications for the use of a pole camera in supporting of both Patrol and SWAT operations.

Several years ago, while I was still a Team Leader in SWAT, our commander found some unspent funds at the end of a fiscal year. Since the money would go back into the municipality’s general fund, we were urged to purchase any needed equipment.

We had borrowed a neighboring city’s remote pole-mounted camera on a few operations. The consensus of the TL’s and ATL’s was that buying our own would be a good use of the financial windfall.

Borrowing the other agency’s camera usually involved a time delay and the commandeering of one of their operators. Delays can be critical during an in-progress incident. In addition, issues can arise when intermixing operators from different teams.

We bought a Tactical Electronics pole camera that has a wireless monitor. We felt this increased officer safety by splitting the responsibilities of handling the pole camera and viewing the monitor between two officers, instead of one.

Categories SWAT
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