A nationwide survey to explore improved design solutions of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Mounted Police section of the Police Force in the UK.

Our research group are trying to improve performance and reduce injury risk for police officers. We recently reviewed the effects of personal protective equipment (PPE) on performance and comfort during police activities (Hudson et al., 2024) and found a lack of evidence for specialist units, such as the mounted police. To address this, we collaborated with three mounted police sections in Yorkshire and Lancashire to assess the use, comfort, and functionality of their PPE (Hudson et al., 2025). The results of this project, which involved semi-structured interviews and movement assessments, highlighted that much of the PPE worn on patrol is standard issue and not designed specifically for the risks associated with horse riding. The officers interviewed identified increased protection from falls and mounted specific public order protection as particular areas for improvement.

For this project, we aim to build on our previous research by exploring the perceptions of improved design solutions for mounted police PPE on a national scale. We will explore if the equipment issues highlighted in our previous research occur across all mounted sections in the UK, whilst collecting further data on how mounted officers perceive their current PPE provision and how it could be improved. To do this, we will develop an online questionnaire to be distributed to all 13 Mounted Police units of the UK police force.

We intend to undertake a future study exploring operational task performance assessments of mounted officers while wearing PPE and standard riding equipment. This information will support and inform the design and development of improved PPE for use across the police force. We will publicise this project through social media platforms including National and Local Police Facebook Pages and Twitter.