"Cool Cop" Tool Helps Police Beat The Heat

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PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - Working in the heat is one thing, but add a dark uniform and Kevlar vest, and this weather can be downright dangerous.

"It's exhausting. We wind up with 100 degrees and high humidity," said Lt. Terry Groves.

Lt. Groves is a watch commander, responsible for the well-being of the patrol officers on his shift.

He says heat exhaustion is a constant concern this time of year. Every other summer, he says, an officer has to be treated for symptoms.

Thursday morning, Plano police officers spent several hours at the scene of a wreck that shut down US 75 in one direction.

"The Kevlar doesn't come off. These dark uniforms absorb the heat and present it back to you," Lt. Groves said.

In the past officers have poured water down their shirts to cool off, but that can be damaging to gear, Lt. Groves says. But the Plano Police Department has a new tool for keeping officers cool when responding to emergencies under the Texas summer sun.

Called the "Cool Cop" the device is essentially a plastic hose bolted to the police vehicle's passenger side A/C vent. The company also makes a "Cool K9" product that can be used for the inside of a K9 unit's cage.

It funnels cold air through a nozzle that police can direct down the front or back of their shirts, cooling off their core temperature beneath the uniform and Kevlar vest.

"It just vents your chest and gives you air right underneath the Kevlar," said Lt. Groves.

Officers can throw it to the side in the event they need to move.

Lt. Groves says it makes a big difference, after just a few minutes' use.

"If [officers] get just a moment or two that they can get back to the car and get this thing tucked in, it will help cool them down pretty quickly," said Groves.

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