your not going to find rifle armor that has the same weight/comfort and small arms coverage as soft armor. it doesn't exists. having worn rifle armor for years in the army both IBA and concealable, i would hate to wear rifle armor every day for a 8-16 hour shift on patrol.
Functionality is important, comfort is important, but looks can be just as important. you need to look approachable but authoritarian. If you look tacticool or like your patrolling ramadi thats going to hinder your job greatly. Your not going to be approached by people or able to build as good of repor with people. In fact i can see it exacerbating situations and escalating certen people causing more confrontations.
I am lucky to be in a department where the the unwritten rule is "if you look like a cop you can wear it". Being the geardo i am i have done a bunch of experimenting and basically found a very comfortable set up that looks good and works for me.
Pants-
5'11 Apex pants (
https://www.511tactical.com/apex-pant.html)
they are great, stretchy, water resistant, breathable. i love these pants. they dont look tactical but the cargo pockets work great. on a few i have had small slit pockets sown in on the front.
Shirt-
Blauer Armor Skin (
https://www.blauer.com/ss-polyester-armorskin-base-shirt-8372.html)
they are as good as a combat shirt and look professional. I have a badge sewn on so when i work the desk or a detail i can still wear it.
Armor-
outer vest carrier, i switch between 5'11 and elbeco. this is the only thing im ehh on. i like them and they are reason i started to wear vests again after a few years of not. they are comfortable. i do sew my badge onto them, so im not dealing with a metal one. i am looking at going with outer vest with pockets for my radio and maybe a few small things to try and get the weight off my belt. But im not a fan of molle vests or tactical looking ones for the reasons i stated above.
I have a sepret rifle threat vest i keep in my cruiser its a PIG Brigadine (
https://www.skdtac.com/PIG-Brig-Plate-Carrier-All-Molle-Rear-SYSTEMA-p/pig.401.htm) in ranger green. Thing is small, light and slick. i have a few rifle mags and shotgun shells on it, with a heavy duty ifak. if i need a PC ill toss that on.
Belt-
i use a 5'11 belt, with velcro inner. It works great and nice and stiff. it has a nice slide buckle, altho i do like cobra better. I have the 5'11 zero G plates on it, and all i can say is holy shit they are nice. worth every penny, saves your back and hips. (
https://www.511tactical.com/zero-g-plate.html)
i have a molle duty belt i use in the military and in shooting competitions, and i just dont see a beniffet of it over a regular duty belt. yes you can add molle pouches, but lets be real here, every type of pouch you would add to a duty belt already comes in a belt attachment form. I am a huge fan of a hard kydex style pouch for the radios. iv seen to many radios fall out during chases on cloth or leather cases.
As far as cell based comms, i compleatly disagree. there are to many places that i get shit cellphone reception that our radios work great. then you got to worry about mutual aid. if you go to cell comms everyone in your area has to also. id hate to have an indecent like an active shooter and not be able to communicate to the other agencies coming in. or something as simple as being able to have scan on in ur cruiser so you know whats going on in the neighboring town, especially when they are trying to move along or dump their issues into your town.
I am a fan of baseball style hats. i hate the officer style hats and only wear mine when its raining and i have the rain condom on it.