The guard attached to the top of the visor provides a discreet protection guard which is brought into play when the officer is subject to laser pointer attack by simply tilting the head to render the beam neutralised.
Normal operation of the helmet visor is not impeded in any way during daylight
However, when an officer is subject to laser pointer assault, the tilting of the visor to put the guard into the beam immediately drops the intensity to comfortable non-threatening brightness levels.