Name/Title
Sussex Police utility belt radio holder c2000Entry/Object ID
1185Description
Black nylon webbing radio holder, with large belt loop and a cord attached to a studded fastening, designed to be hung from a utility type beltUse
For attaching a personal radio to a utility beltContext
In around 2000 Sussex Police began to issue 2 inch (50mm) wide nylon utility belts to officers in order for them to carry an increasing amount of personal equipment, such as radios, torches, first aid pouches, handcuffs, batons and pepper spray. Interestingly only a few years before senior officers had objected to officers carrying too much equipment on the then uniform trouser/skirt belt, protesting that it was too militaristic. Until the introduction of utility belts, personal radios were usually carried on a thin leather belt suspected off of two clips. These were too small for the new utility belts and holders such as this were introduced for officers to carry Motorola HT600E personal radios and their lightweight successors. More modern Airwave devices are normally carried using a twist attachment which is fixed to a stab/ballistic vest, though twist belt holders were also available.