CLEBURNE COUNTY, Ark. — Cleburne County sheriff’s deputies have a new look, one that could make their jobs and lives easier.
Deputies have begun wearing new load-bearing vests that replace their previous bulletproof vests and their utility belts. Approximately half of the deputies in the county have received their vests, while the rest will get them in the coming days.
Sheriff Chris Brown said he has wanted a vest like this since he first began his career in law enforcement, because he noticed that many veteran officers had bone and nerve damage caused by the increasing amount of equipment they had to carry around their waists.
“Really, what we’ve seen a lot of is, is mainly lower-back pain, leg pain. And, you know, that can lead to all kinds of other health complications,” Brown said.
Deputy Josh Milam has worked for CCSO since September but said he already appreciates his new vest compared to the utility belt.
“I mean, it’s not just an immense amount of pain,” he explained, “but you can tell the huge difference by being able to take that weight off and transferring it up, so it’s a good deal.”
Another benefit of the new vests is that they are worn outside the deputy’s uniform, whereas the previous bulletproof vest was worn underneath.
“Here in the South, it seems like it’s a very common thing to go to police departments or sheriff’s offices and see people that don’t wear them,” Brown stated. “And I think the heat and humidity has a lot to do with that.”
“I like it,” Milam exclaimed. “It’s definitely better than wearing it underneath, so, yeah. And they’re easy to get off, as well, so if it gets too hot one day, and you’re in the office, just unzip, take it off, instead of having to take your shirt and everything else off.”
Brown said CCSO did not require its deputies or detectives to wear their bulletproof vests at all times, and some would not. He made that mandatory when he took office in 2017
“We said, ‘hey, look. You’ve got a vest, you’ve got a seat belt,’” Brown recalled telling his staff. “Those are two things that can save your life just by putting them on.’”
Sheriff Brown said the response within Cleburne County has been overwhelmingly positive. He acknowledged that, historically, the main criticism people have of vests like these is that they can appear militaristic and make citizens scared.
“There’s a reason the military has gone to carrying stuff on their vests,” Brown said, “and that’s for health reasons. And, if we can take something good from the military and use that, I feel like it’s our responsibility to do that, for the safety and health of our folks.”
Milam said nobody has reacted negatively to the vest during his recent interactions with the community.
“They like the look of them, and it’s not too intimidating or anything like that,” he said. “They tend to like them, just the couple people that I’ve actually talked to about it.”
Brown said he wanted to give residents of Cleburne County plenty of notice about the change. K9 handlers began wearing similar vests more than a year ago, and he publicized them on the CCSO Facebook page.
He estimated that the cost of the new vests is similar to the combined cost of the previous vest and utility belt. But he predicted that the new vests would save money in the long run by reducing the cost of health care and by reducing the amount of overtime worked by deputies filling in for their injured colleagues.