the.com/riot shield
A clear door you stand behind while someone else tries to kick it down.
means A large, usually curved, transparent or solid protective panel carried by police or soldiers to block thrown objects and blows during crowd confrontations.
from Straightforward compound: 'riot' from Old French riote (dispute, quarrel), and 'shield' from Old English scield, a protective board warriors carried since before English was English. No myth needed here — the device is exactly what the name says, a shield designed for the job of standing in front of riots, first fielded by police forces in the 20th century as civil unrest met mass media and officers needed to look as defensive as they claimed to be.
- material
- polycarbonate, same as bulletproof glass
- transparency
- see-through so you spot thrown objects
- weight
- up to 10 pounds of forearm burn
- origin
- popularized by 1960s civil unrest policing