The Milipol in Paris is a leading event for homeland security and safety. Gore Associates David Raso (Sales France and Iberia), Janice Lau (Application Engineer), Katja Christof (Product Specialist) and Dominique Bruyen (Professional Footwear France and Switzerland) are experts in the French police garment market and share their insights about the Gore garment technologies and explain how innovations from GORE-TEX Professional can help.
What are the key challenges that police officers face with protective clothing?
David Raso: Police forces often have to compromise comfort in 
favour of protection, which can increase the risk of heat stress when heavy, bulky garments are worn over body armour and other layers.
So, the key challenge is to maintain high flame-retardant protection without increasing the risk of heat stress or tiredness from wearing heavy gear for long periods.
Officers can be deployed in every kind of weather for extended periods of time and so keeping warm and dry in winter and cool and comfortable in summer is also often a problem. What they want is the same level of protection, but with improved comfort performance that is appropriate to the conditions.
How do police forces deal with the challenge of operating in varying environments?
David Raso: There is often a temptation to improve comfort by reducing the level of flame-retardant protection. Depending on the conditions, their gear becomes too uncomfortable to operate effectively so sacrifices are made on protection, which in turn increases the risk of injury. Or they choose protection over comfort and increase the risk of heat stress.
What role does comfort play in operational effectiveness?
Janice Lau: Comfort is the most critical factor that affects an officer’s 
ability to stay focused on their task for as long as possible. As soon as we become uncomfortable it affects our ability to move quickly and starts to impede decision making. In operational situations where risks are changing and evolving rapidly, officers need to have as few distractions as possible and maintain their concentration levels to avoid possible injury.
The new GORE-TEX fire-retardant garments are lighter and more comfortable but don’t compromise on protection. They are designed to withstand the abrasive rigours of operational duty. They have low water pickup and dry quickly, so officers don’t feel weighed down and cold by heavier wet garments in the rain.
How can GORE-TEX Professional’s innovations enhance operational effectiveness?
Janice Lau: The range of flame high-performance flame-retardant garments gives police officers a choice of options to best meets their operational needs. They are waterproof, breathable and durable, delivering enhanced comfort without compromising the critical protection required to keep officers safe.
The use of fire-retardant stretch panels creates a better fit while still offering greater freedom of movement and a softer, more comfortable garment.
The GORE-TEX PYRAD® solutions enable police forces to maintain flame retardant protection in everyday rain gear and match the garment colour to their current corporate identity.
What difference does stretch technology make to performance?
Katja Christof: The unique flame-retardant GORE-TEX stretch technology improves comfort and protection with enhanced freedom of movement and agility. It creates a better and smarter fit and offers the flexibility to add or remove layers to best suit the conditions without compromising comfort or critical protection from weather, exposure to flames and liquid chemicals.
Why is flame retardance so important?
Katja Christof: The increasing use of pyrotechnics and Molotov cocktail like devices at public order events significantly increases the risk of burns to officer from heat and flame. It is crucial that that have effective protection from flame and flash fire that can occur at any time during these operations.
What are the current footwear trends in the French police & gendarmerie?
Dominique Bruyen: For law enforcement officers, footwear has to be lightweight and robust, offering a high level of protection and immediate comfort. Quality and safety cannot be compromised. Sports-inspired tactical footwear is now widely adopted.
GORE-TEX Professional launches new EXTRAGUARD upper material for Police end use: how will this support the policiers et gendarmes ?
Dominique Bruyen: Until now, we've offered a range of linings (with different levels of insulation) and adapted technologies. Now we're breaking new ground with a highly resistant, lightweight, waterproof and breathable upper material that doesn't absorb water even in extreme wet conditions. Its use on the upper of the shoe, instead of a traditional construction, provides even more durable waterproofing and saves a considerable amount of weight. The shoes will be much lighter, and will stay light.
Visit us at MILIPOL in Paris and contact David, Janice, Katja and Dominique who will be at the booth to answer your questions.
If you do not yet have a ticket, please request it here.
November 14-17, Paris, France, Hall 5, Stand C110
The title for this piece is going to be built around the rediscovery of commitment and the principle of the waterline. It was an incredible privilege to be invited to Gore. I've got to meet so many members of the team, I got to see the factories, I got to see the manufacturing process, I got to see first-hand the authenticity "that we do what we say", in several points during the visits. I found myself thinking of and at times articulating the principle of Ronseal, which is the UK product and effectively says that 'it does what it says on the tin'. That really is exactly what I saw during my time ago. One of the most impressive, but almost unspoken aspects that I really found interesting during my visit, was the fact that associates and team members didn't appear to need any motivation. They didn't need to be pushed. There's no assertiveness put upon them by other colleagues. There was instead, a really strong and consistent feeling of commitment. How Gore articulates and lives this aspect of commitment is really refreshing and almost makes me feel quite romantic, about how I like to live my life and how I like to hold myself accountable to other people, and that is what I mean by that, is that when you're in Gore and you say you commit to something, that's all that needs to be said. I'm very lucky to be invited to a lot of organizations and in total honesty, when I visit a lot of other organizations, it's a common part of the vernacular that "we are overworked", "under resourced", "pushing hard", "missing deadlines", trying to catch up, and there's almost a steady back track of "so and so's" behind. "We were supposed to have this thing done but so and so didn't get back to me", "so and so can't make it today". Not once did I experience any of that at Gore and that's not because it's militaristic or dictatorship or anything like that. It's more that people have a very apparent set of personal values. They give them an incredible amount of self-motivation, they're self-disciplined, they're driven to deliver and do the thing that they say they would do, because it aligns with their personal values. Everywhere we went, people were on time or early, people were ready, people brought the things they said they were going to bring. People took me and showed me the thing they said they were going to show me and it was done with a constant calm, consistent sense of purpose. There was no rush, there was no hurried business, there was intentional action. People were where they should be and it brought such an overwhelming and obvious sense of calm 
and purpose to every aspect of the visit and when I pulled a couple of people aside and asked them about what I was observing, there was this constant theme of commitment. And the commitment side of things really heightens as well with the sense of self-awareness, knowing what you are capable of doing and what you're not capable of doing. Knowing what you have the capacity for. In a lot of organizations you tend to see people that over-promise and under-deliver, especially if they're new to the business, they tend to say yes to everything and then go through a period of letting everybody down or overworking or losing that balance. That healthy balance and either their professional or their personal life takes a toll for it. Not once did I observe any of that. People know what they can do and they know what they can't do. They know they've got time for and they know what they've got time to do well, as well which is a very important point to raise., Nothing was half done. Nothing was less than it should be. Everything and everyone was held to a standard, but held to that standard by themselves, which was quite surreal and I think one big part of protecting the culture is this aspect of the waterline. And it also works hand in hand with their ability to protect the product as well.
One of the key aspects of Gore is that they have come across a material that is so diverse, so flexible in its use, so many tremendous applications, so many phases and stages of innovation and revolution and through what they articulated is this concept of waterline and I am shamelessly going to seal this aspect of the waterline. Because what is says to me, is that in order to protect this incredible culture of this incredible company that's been created, there are people that have a true understanding and appreciation of what decisions have the potential to damage the brand, to damage the culture, and to damage the continued success of the company. And with experimentation comes and element of failure, because that's how we learn. I think when individuals are new to the company, they are given that freedom in that trust but there's an appreciation that it will take a period of calibration for them to really understand how important the values and the core principles of the company are, because a lot of companies have values. A lot of companies have a core code of ethics, they have principles, they have a mission statement they write on the wall, but most people in the companies can't articulate it, can't remember it and often it's meaningless. Whereas in Gore, this aspect of the waterline is given to those who can fully understand and have fully assimilated and live the values of the company. So, when they're trusted to make a decision, if that decision is something that's below the waterline then it has the capacity to sink the ship. I had several people describe their analogy of the waterline, but they all were framed around this concept that we all live in this boat. We're all on this journey together and there's certain decisions that are above the waterline. And if it's above the waterline and it's mishandled or there is a complication or if there's an unanticipated challenge and the decision doesn't go well or we don't get the desired outcome, then the vessel can sustain the damage. The hole that is punctured is above the waterline and together as a team we'll repair it and will carry on. The ship will continue to sail through the storm. But if that decision is one that sites below the waterline, then it's crucial that it's given due consideration and someone with a fully holistic view of the impact of that decision, is interested to make it. Because if a decision that sits below the waterline is not fully considered, then the potential damage that can come from the result of a poorly made decision, below the waterline, has the ability to sink the ship, has the ability to send the entire vessel into panic, will start taking on water. We will make less progress. We will damage things inside the vessel and the worst case scenario: it may sink. And that is such a truly crucial part of sustaining a business and sustaining a culture, allowing someone inside the bowels of that vessel to make decisions and to impact the teams, the product, the end-user, the partners of the company. That is a really, really culturally important part of decision-making. And it's so important to recognize and continually reinforce those
people who stand on guard, at their corners of cultures. There's those cultural architects who make really pivotal decisions that are below the waterline and when I cast my mind into the first responder community it's that aspect of brand new recruits in the fire services, the police, the military, the ambulance, making decisions on the incident ground. Some of which are above the waterline. Some of which will not have a tremendously detrimental effect and the outcome of the incident, if they're not executed proficiently. But some decisions, a strategic decision, a tactical decision: Do we go left or do we go right? Are we offensive or defensive firefighting? Are we going to commit to the building? Am I going to send them to the first floor? They're waterline decisions and if someone doesn't have the requisite experience, knowledge, self-awareness, situational awareness and on the frontline people will die. And it's translated that into a company the death of an organization has the potential to happen if only one or two waterline decisions aren't navigated correctly.
acknowledging the efforts they do, the knowledge they have, the contribution that they made to the organization. And also, when they were talking about their partners, this aspect of constant innovation through eliciting constant feedback from the end-user. The desire to get better. The aspect that constantly giving praise to the people in the organization, again to the subject matter experts, to the partners, to the end-user, the ability to take feedback to take criticism to take suggestions or improvements for the product. The aspect of humble was very, very, very clear as I traveled amongst them. And there's no two ways about it. When you look through the timeline of the company, they have most definitely been hungry, they are driven, they are willing to work, they know, I saw the stuff that they're doing with the astronauts and NASA and origins of the PTFE and how it's used in water lines and seals and the applications that I saw with extreme sports and Everest-climbs and athletes and there's just so many places that this product can be used. And the team seems to have like an octopus with their arms. Everyone is driven to maximize the potential of the company and to share its benefits, with as many people in, as many applications as possible. But it never came at the cost of longevity either there's no focus on the short-term and you do see that a lot in organizations. This echoes back to that aspect of commitment. The things are going to be done right, they're going to be done at a sustainable pace, they're going to be checked and re-checked. It's going to be backstops. There's always the willingness to take two steps forward and one step back if we realize that expediting a process is going to come at the cost of the quality. And finally, when I'm thinking about those three: humble, hungry, smart. The smart side of it, is actually probably one of the rarest ones and the one that I really saw, stand out with the Gore team. And we could turn that as professionalism, politeness, emotional intelligence, self-awareness. It's ultimately people's awareness of how their actions and reactions that affect those around them. There's the aspect of impacting tended versus impact felt. Every interaction I had, was done so in a welcoming, professional, gregarious, polite, inclusive manner. I felt like part of the team. I was trusted. I was let behind the curtain. It was transparent. People let me see and ask questions and point and query and it was very surreal. Again, there's a lot of organizations where there's very much places you can't go, where is very much people you can't speak and that's OK and I appreciate that's done for a reason, but Gore had a very different approach. You know I came in, I was treated with respect, I was trusted and they allowed me inside rooms and inside conversations that I was very surprised to be part of. Things about the product. Things about future innovations. Things about future products. Things about the directions of 
the company and I came away from the entire experience, feeling like I was a part of the team, feeling like I wanted to go back for more, feeling like I wanted to be part of that next great adventure. And the fact that so many people were willing to come and sit down with me and talk about the company, talk about the product, talk about their experience, feeling like I was part of the team of Gore, I was inundated with enthusiastic, fun, interesting, passionate, knowledgeable people that wanted to come and talk to me about their experience at Gore. About the projects they've been involved in. About the trust they've been given and there was no script, there was no person sat in the bag, checking what they said and what they didn't say. They was just an overwhelming sense of trust. People could speak freely about their successes and their setbacks, but still with a very realistic understanding of challenges that are being faced in the market, the challenges being faced by first responders, by paramedics, by police, by firefighters, the challenges and the handlers that we come in contact with every day and how the team of Gore is working diligently, creatively to find solutions to these challenges.
