Front line police are being warned that stab resistant body armour (SRBA) could be a health risk.
Napier constable Grant Marshall believes wearing the armour may have led to him developing kidney stones, forcing him to spend several weeks off work in the ``most debilitating pain''.
In a letter to the Police
Association magazine, Police News, he said the (SRBA) and the new police shirts had contributed to his demise.
``We all know how hot we can get in them and the new shirts do make it more comfortable overall. However, because they are designed to `wick' the sweat away from the body, it works against our body's natural cooling process.''
He said people were advised to drink two litres of water a day but his urologist told him police may need to drink up to three litres.
He encouraged his colleagues to drink water regularly and take off the SRBAs as often as possible.
He said the pain of kidney stones was excruciating with no comfortable position to sit, lie or stand.
The aftercare was just as painful.
``To say the removal of the catheter was akin to having a piece of red hot number 8 fencing wire removed from your privates is an understatement.
``So if that is not enough to motivate readers to drink water, I don't know what would be,'' he said in the letter.
