Police to regulate safety vests

published : 2 Jan 2023 at 04:30

newspaper section: News

writer: Wassayos Ngamkham

The Royal Thai Police (RTP) is working to ensure the uniformity of high-visibility safety vests worn by its officers to improve public confidence in the force, said deputy national police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol.

Pol Gen Torsak said there are no regulations on high-visibility vests worn by the police, meaning officers from different stations can have different vests with different styles and varying quality.

"This can raise questions about their credibility and credentials when they are out on patrol," he said, adding RTP wants to start providing a standard-issue high-visibility vest to its officers by the end of the year.

The vests, he said, will have reflective green and yellow fluorescent markings.

Pol Gen Torsak said that safety vest samples will be distributed to police stations to gauge officers' opinions on various styles before a decision is made.

He added the officers will have to consider the climate when picking a model.

The decision on what fabric to use will also depend on the budget available for the project, which will be drawn from the budget for the current fiscal year.

Meanwhile, in another move, Pol Gen Torsak also said national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas has assigned him to look into the benefits of tasers as the RTP is considering procuring them.

Each police station may receive two to be used by officers on patrol duty, he said. Pol Gen Torsak said tasers could be helpful in case the officers are attacked by suspects during an attempt to apprehend them.

The tasers, he said, will be given to police stations which are deemed to need them the most. No detalils were to hand on what stations are likely to qualify.

The RTP is studying various types of tasers and whether they are practical for Thai officers, he said.