Do Police Officers Have To Take Off There Shoes?

[Cat_Doc]

Yep, I am narrowed minded aka focused on officer safety.

As stated in my first post, if they want the boots off, then they can stand outside and speak with me or come to a sub-station.

You guys in Hawaii must not have very many "Officer Needs Immediate Assistance" calls, or you are very patient when it comes to help getting there as soon as possible. "Sorry, Bro, I had to put my boots back on or I would have been here sooner." :rolleyes:

Those boots are part of my duty uniform, and I am expected to address emergencies at any moment without unnecessary delay.

Additionally, you guys in Hawaii must not run across those calls that do not appear to be much only to have it turn to **** unexpectedly. "Uhm, can you go take this combative prisoner out to my cruiser for me? I have to put my boots back on. And damn, my toes hurt after that asswipe stomped on them."

My boots stay on...to protect my feet, to not delay emergency response and quite possibly to place right up someone's ***. ;)

[Citicop]

Yep, I am narrowed minded aka focused on officer safety.

As stated in my first post, if they want the boots off, then they can stand outside and speak with me or come to a sub-station.

You guys in Hawaii must not have very many "Officer Needs Immediate Assistance" calls, or you are very patient when it comes to help getting there as soon as possible. "Sorry, Bro, I had to put my boots back on or I would have been here sooner." :rolleyes:

Those boots are part of my duty uniform, and I am expected to address emergencies at any moment without unnecessary delay.

Additionally, you guys in Hawaii must not run across those calls that do not appear to be much only to have it turn to **** unexpectedly. "Uhm, can you go take this combative prisoner out to my cruiser for me? I have to put my boots back on. And damn, my toes hurt after that asswipe stomped on them."

My boots stay on...to protect my feet, to not delay emergency response and quite possibly to place right up someone's ***. ;)

+10

As I previously stated... I respect people's cultures and opinions. If my presence is requested in your house (as opposed to REQUIRED) then I will not go in if you don't want my "filthy shoes" inside. I'll be more than happy to talk to you outside if that's your decision.

But IF I come in, I come in shod, period. It's non-negotiable.

Why is this even being debated? The original question was: Do officers *have* to remove their shoes?

The answer is no. Some officers will comply with a -request- to remove their shoes, and some will not, but we are not REQUIRED to do so.

-Citicop.

[kels]

For a house of worship (whatever faith) I would consider
removing footwear if asked.
Thankfully here, that is not an issue (we dont have either faith
mentioned being practiced officially)

It would be easier to just to stay outside though.

[Cat_Doc]

The most I would consider, outside of emergency scenarios, would be to place the white BIO hazard booties over my boots, no matter where it is. I am not removing my boots.

[patchcop]

The most I would consider, outside of emergency scenarios, would be to place the white BIO hazard booties over my boots, no matter where it is. I am not removing my boots.

Hey, that is a pretty good idea. Why I don't find that out by myself. Thanks for that opinion!

[MRBEST]

The most I would consider, outside of emergency scenarios, would be to place the white BIO hazard booties over my boots, no matter where it is. I am not removing my boots.

Thats about as far as I'd go. For all the reasons already mentioned, it just sounds completely insane to think about taking boots off, etc....

[808SSD]

Well unfortunately it is a lot of common sense. And yes around here, most officers will handle situations outside of the home, or in the garage or carport, if it is not necessary to enter the home. Also if I, or any officer here shows up at a crackhouse, who the hell is going to take off their boots to begin with? Common sense I guess. Or if I show up to a home and immediate access is necessary, boots stay on. Again common sense I guess. It seems to work in a city, with a dept of nearly 2300 sworn officers.

But if I happen to get called to a home where 80 year old grandma's immaculate home got broken into and I need to process something inside her home, and the entire families shoes are lined up outside the door. I will offer to remove my boots, especially if they are dirty. If I can't slip on my boots, have them zipped up or tied in much less then 2 mins, my fat *** better lay off the donuts, or I better practice tying my shoes. Common sense I guess, as many have stated.

I wasn't born in this area, and I grew up in different areas of the US so I understand the shoes in the home deal, and its applications in LE as stated in this thread. However if you haven't walked a mile in the boots of an officer here, making an absolute statement is naive at best.

In reality, I haven't worked patrol in many years and when I make house calls, all of us keep our boots on (still purchase side zip boots to this day). Perhaps that will make some feel better.

[808SSD]

Careful, your "Tolerance" is showing... ;)

I might be culturally tolerant at times, but being tolerant of a closed mind is a bit harder of a pill to swallow.

I have seen officers across the country do things that are not necessarily "the ideal", but police work is often shaped, by the communities in which they serve. Doesn't matter if it is Asian, Italian, Irish, African American, you name it, there are some things you do, and don't do. Or more correctly try to do or try to avoid doing, out of cultural, religious, whatever awareness. What might work in my area, may not work in theirs and vise versa. Things much more of a safety issue than slipping off your boots when going into granny's house. You see it all the time, in PD's across the nation.

[808SSD]

Yep, I am narrowed minded aka focused on officer safety.

As stated in my first post, if they want the boots off, then they can stand outside and speak with me or come to a sub-station.

You guys in Hawaii must not have very many "Officer Needs Immediate Assistance" calls, or you are very patient when it comes to help getting there as soon as possible. "Sorry, Bro, I had to put my boots back on or I would have been here sooner." :rolleyes:

Those boots are part of my duty uniform, and I am expected to address emergencies at any moment without unnecessary delay.

Additionally, you guys in Hawaii must not run across those calls that do not appear to be much only to have it turn to **** unexpectedly. "Uhm, can you go take this combative prisoner out to my cruiser for me? I have to put my boots back on. And damn, my toes hurt after that asswipe stomped on them."

My boots stay on...to protect my feet, to not delay emergency response and quite possibly to place right up someone's ***. ;)

Yep, grass shacks, mai tai's, fun in the sun and the beach. No crime here. You have obviously never been to Honolulu.

You might want to think about certain things, that might be culturally sensitive, when you closest back-up might be 20 mins away and you are surrounded by 20 350lb Polynesians who are pretty pissed off that you treated granny with disrespect. That attitude would last about 5 mins in many areas around here and would be more detrimental towards your officer safety than a pair of boots on your feet. Then of course the rest of the district would show up to save your ***, and when your toe and pride felt better, I would probably tell you, hey you shoulda just stuck your boot up all of their assess. ;)

[808SSD]

Wearing "filthy shoes" in your house isn't going to require you to call in a cleaning service and I'm sure your life would go on without any major setbacks or repercussions.

With all due respect, if you re-read my filthy shoes statement, I said if you were invited to my home, while NOT on duty, I would expect you to take off your shoes. This is non-negotiable, and is disrespectful on so many levels. Sorry but it would just not be allowed. If you were to disagree, no harm, and I would not be upset if you left. Many people like to hang out in the garage / carport and BBQ outside, the shoe issue is so important, when I built my home, I actually built a bathroom into my garage for those who feel uncomfortable about removing their shoes. As stated, if there were a pressing emergency in my home, such as fido trying to shoot me, and you showed up ON DUTY, than I would be more understanding of the keeping the boots on situation.

[808SSD]

This outta be a peach of a thread in the mornin. :D

[CityOfChicago]

I think this thread now hovers between ridiculous and lunacy. What a stupid conversation. Can we drop this and move onto some real LE topics, like the lack of quality leadership from management or the way to win back some community trust so maybe we have a couple cooperating witnesses at violent crimes? Maybe some discussion of creating, teaching, and maintaining professionalism accross the field? Something other than shoes?

[Roger Dat]

I am with CoC. This thread ran its course time to shut it down.

[Big_Montana]

not much crime in Hawaii?
one word, Waianae.

Yep, I am narrowed minded aka focused on officer safety.

As stated in my first post, if they want the boots off, then they can stand outside and speak with me or come to a sub-station.

You guys in Hawaii must not have very many "Officer Needs Immediate Assistance" calls, or you are very patient when it comes to help getting there as soon as possible. "Sorry, Bro, I had to put my boots back on or I would have been here sooner." :rolleyes:

Those boots are part of my duty uniform, and I am expected to address emergencies at any moment without unnecessary delay.

Additionally, you guys in Hawaii must not run across those calls that do not appear to be much only to have it turn to **** unexpectedly. "Uhm, can you go take this combative prisoner out to my cruiser for me? I have to put my boots back on. And damn, my toes hurt after that asswipe stomped on them."

My boots stay on...to protect my feet, to not delay emergency response and quite possibly to place right up someone's ***. ;)