Police Supplies

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Police supplies aid officers of the law in doing their job. Police are agents and agencies that have been empowered to enforce the law, often through the use of force. Their power is limited to smaller areas by state and national borders, and many laws that prevent police from using improper force. Various policing agencies have arisen over time, but the oldest modern police force is considered to be the London Metropolitan Police established in 1829, which promoted policing as a crime deterrent, and an important preventative measure. With the forming of modern police agencies around the world, police supplies have become vital to protecting officers and citizens alike, and especially through forensic science have been able to apprehend many criminals.

Forensic science is a way of gathering and examining evidence in a strict controlled scientific fashion. Hair, blood, fingerprints, handwriting, tire tracks, and footprints are just a few clues that can be examined scientifically and used to link suspects to the scene of a crime. There are many and varied police supplies for forensic specialists.

A polygraph machine is an excellent tool for interrogators as well (often called a lie detector). The machine records several different body responses at the same time, allowing fluctuations to be noticed while being questioned.

A few standard true and false questions are asked before the test such as a person’s name, to set a standard from which to compare the test results. It is during these first questions that the validity of the test is questioned – testers can purposely change breathing rates and make the test results erratic and inconclusive. After a two-hour test with related and unrelated questions to the issue, a trained psychologist can examine the results and come to a conclusion.

Fingerprints were one of the first ways to indentify people at the scene of crimes. In the late 1800’s fingerprints were proven to be unique and permanent for every individual, and thus became the number one piece of evidence needed to link people to weapons, or locales where crimes were committed. Sir Francis Galton was the first person to create a way to identify and classify the difficult-to-view fingerprint, and a slightly modified version of that system is still the most widely used today.
A little charcoal powder and a light dusting brush are still the most important police supplies for detectives and many police officers but increasingly DNA evidence is being gathered and used to apprehend criminals – DNA being our genetic fingerprint, and just as unique but often more plentiful and difficult to hide at the scene of a crime.

The most visible police supply is an officer’s pistol. Since its first mass production by Samuel Colt in 1850, the multi shot pistol has been used by every police department in the United States, and many other gun friendly nations. Ballistic tests can find the fingerprint of every gun as well, linking bullets to certain guns.

Photography was also being used at this time to begin identifying criminals, and advertising for their capture in the first wanted signs. Handcuffs were being used widely by the 1870’s and the ratcheting design is credited to W.V. Adams. Telegraph was also being used at this time, until the telephone took over by the 1880’s.

The next addition to police supplies didn’t occur until the use of the two-way radio in the 1930’s which was also around the same time that many police agencies began using cars widely. Radar detectors became common in the 50’s, and the side handled baton, which is so effective that it is now standard issue for police officers, was invented by a former marine in 1958. Computers are being used more often and revolutionizing the way officers work, as well as alternatives to force such as pepper spray which was invented in 1982.

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