You made it through the police academy, you passed the state test and now you’ve been issued a take-home patrol vehicle. Outfitting that car with the right patrol car accessories not only sets you up for success but also helps you stay organized and prepared for any call. Some items are universal across agencies, while others will depend on your assignment and environment.
Every officer has their own way of setting up a take-home car, but here are a few pieces of gear to rise to the top no matter where you work.
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1. Patrol bag
A patrol bag is one of the most important patrol car accessories to consider. Over the years, these bags have evolved in size and function, but they remain essential.
Think of it as the central hub for the gear you don’t carry on your duty belt: ticket books, flashlight cones, restraints, masks and other miscellaneous items. Without a dedicated storage system, this equipment can scatter around your vehicle during a high-stress response. Keep your patrol bag easily accessible — whether behind the passenger seat or in the trunk.
2. Bail out bag
Traditionally, a “bail out bag” meant grabbing ammo and medical supplies in an ambush scenario. Today, many officers set them up more as a mission-specific response bag.
Depending on your department’s policies, consider staging a bag with medical gear, extra magazines and even a plate carrier. If you’re the first on scene to an active shooter or high-risk call, having this bag staged within arm’s reach can save precious seconds.
3. Medical kit
Every officer should carry at least a basic medical kit in their vehicle. While the size depends on your training, a solid kit should include tourniquets, gauze, gloves and other essentials for hemorrhage control.
EMS may not always arrive first. Officers often beat ambulances to scenes, which makes having medical gear in your vehicle a lifesaver.
Miscellaneous items
Depending on your agency and where you work, you may have specialized kit you need to carry with you — sometimes every day, sometimes only seasonally.
When I was a young deputy in the Colorado mountains, I had the added responsibilities of search and rescue as well as wildland fire response. My take-home car carried an entire bag set up with rappelling gear so I could go down after vehicles that had crashed off embankments. That bag included:
- Helmets
- Headlamps
- Rope and anchors
- Harnesses
- Carabiners (plenty of them)
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Outside of winter, I swapped that bag for fire gear. If we got to a lightning strike fast enough, we could prevent a full-blown forest fire. My seasonal kit included:
Tools were another must-have. I kept a small box of basics in my trunk and used them more often than I expected. Some calls even required more unusual items. For example, when horses wandered onto county roads, I kept an old ammo can with:
For agencies without a dedicated CSI unit, I also recommend carrying a basic crime scene kit. Mine had:
- Police barrier tape
- Evidence bags
- A camera (never your personal phone)
- Evidence tape
Finally, stage lifesaving gear where you can grab it instantly. I clipped a water rescue throw bag to my seatbelt mount so I could deploy it in seconds.
Gear up and go
Many of you won’t need the amount of gear I carried, and you can get by just fine with a patrol bag and a few basic patrol car accessories. Others may find themselves loading up even more.
If you’re on a special response team — SWAT, dive or anything in between — it’s smart to keep all your gear staged in one central location so you can deploy quickly. Over time, I started thinking of my bags like folders on a computer: I’d grab the one I needed for the type of call I was heading into.
In this line of work, seconds matter. Having your patrol car accessories organized in a system that makes sense to you may not just save time — it could save your life or someone else’s. The more gear you carry, the more critical it becomes to stay organized and keep it accessible.
This article, originally published on March 10, 2020, has been updated.
