A department building its first riot capability faces a catalog full of options and a budget that will not cover all of them. The good news is that a complete individual kit comes down to six components, and there is a sensible order to buy them in.
The Core Six
The suit provides blunt force protection for the torso and limbs; the Patrol suit is the common entry point at roughly 10 pounds with fire-resistant construction. The helmet protects the head and face, with a choice between straight and bubble face shields. The shield, 4mm polycarbonate in 24x36 or 24x48 inch formats, is the mobile barrier between the officer and the crowd. Gloves protect the hands that do all the work, from padded Kevlar to hard knuckle designs. The baton, 28 or 34 inch, is the defensive tool. And a deployable bag is what gets everything to the incident intact and organized.
What to Prioritize on a Budget
Buy suits and helmets first. They cover the injuries that actually take officers off duty, blunt trauma to the limbs, torso, and head, and they are the components officers wear in every deployment scenario. Gloves come next because hand injuries are frequent and cheap to prevent. Shields and batons follow, then bags. If the budget forces a choice between outfitting half the team completely and all of the team partially, outfit the full team with suits and helmets and phase in the rest; a line where everyone has core protection beats a line where half the officers have everything.
Mistakes First-Time Buyers Make
Three come up constantly. Skipping the sizing process, when suits run XS through XXL and a bad fit degrades both protection and mobility. Ignoring parts availability, which determines whether a cracked face shield costs a part or a helmet. And buying components from vendors whose gear does not integrate. Police Chief Magazine procurement coverage regularly notes that equipment programs succeed on planning discipline, not just product selection.