Police uniforms and equipment in the United Kingdom vary enormously per force or service, and different uniforms and equipment is used for different situations. Both what is worn and what is carried have varied considerably from the inception of the earliest recognisable mainstream police services in the early 19th century. As various laws in the mid-19th century standardised policing in the United Kingdom, so too were uniforms and equipment. From a variety of home grown uniforms,
The lists of police uniforms and equipment here are not exhaustive, nor specific for each force, but give a general overview of typical 'kit' used in the United Kingdom.
Equipment
Various items of equipment are usually carried on the duty belt of uniformed officers, although some have pouches attached to their stab vest, eliminating the need for a belt. Plainclothes officers may wear a harness, which can be worn under clothes. They usually have:
Taser (specially trained officers, but becoming routinely issued in a few forces)[6]
Extra equipment, such as a first aid kit (including a pocket mask, disposable gloves, germicidal wipes, hypoallergenic tape, wound dressings, a triangular bandage, and sterile plasters),[7] may be stored in a patrol car.
Uniform
For much of the twentieth century up to the mid-1990s, male police officers wore a dark blue (almost black) tunic with polished silver buttons (gold for the City of London Police), and trousers of matching colour with a sewn-in truncheon pocket. No stab vest was worn and much less equipment was carried than is today. Following concerns about police officers' safety, it was suggested that the uniform should be changed.[8]
From the 1990s, it was generally accepted that the police could patrol in "shirt-sleeve order" which meant that they need not wear the jacket, as its widespread use was an impediment in some situations. In 1994, the
duty belt
) and reflective jacket.
Although there are minor variations in the styling, pattern and insignia, the police forces of Great Britain,
Metropolitan Police Service
, due to it being recognised as the first Home Office police service in England. The base colour is a very dark blue, almost indistinguishable from black (and recently often is black), which earned the police the nickname of the "boys in blue".
Uniform history
The Metropolitan Police officers were unarmed to clearly distinguish them from military enforcers, which had been the system of policing seen before the 1820s. Their uniform was also styled in blue, rather than the military red. Despite the service being unarmed, the then Home Secretary, Robert Peel, gave authorisation to the Commissioner to purchase fifty flintlock pistols, for exceptional incidents that required the use of firearms. As time progressed, the obsolete flintlocks were replaced by early revolvers. At the time, burglary (or "house breaking" as it was then called) was a common problem for police, as house breakers were usually armed. Due to the deaths of officers at the hands of armed criminals in the outer districts of the Metropolis, and after much press coverage debating whether Peel's service should be fully armed, the Commissioner applied to the Home Secretary to supply all officers on the outer districts with revolvers. These could only be issued if, in the opinion of the senior officer, the officer could be trusted to use it safely, and with discretion. From that point, officers who felt the need to be armed, could be so. The practice lasted until 1936, although the vast majority of the system was phased out by the end of the 19th century.
From 1829, to 1839, Metropolitan Police officers wore blue swallowtail coats with high collars to counter garroting. This was worn with white trousers in summer, and a cane-reinforced top hat, which could be used as a step to climb or see over walls. In the early years of the Metropolitan Police, equipment was little more than a rattle to call for assistance,[9] and a wooden truncheon. As the years progressed, the rattle was replaced with the whistle, swords were removed from service, and flintlock pistols were removed in favour of revolvers. Initially, police constables were required to wear their uniforms at all times, whether they were on duty or not. A cloth brassard or arm band, generally with black and white vertical stripes, known as a "duty band", was worn on the left forearm while on duty and removed at the end of the shift. In an emergency, duty bands could also be issued as the sole item of uniform if large numbers of special constables were required. The City of London Police is the last service to use the duty band.[10]
In 1863, the Metropolitan Police replaced the tailcoat with a tunic, still high-collared, and the top hat with the
. The helmet itself was of cork-faced with fabric. The design varied slightly between services. Some used the style by the Metropolitan Police, topped with a boss, while others had a helmet that incorporated a ridge or crest terminating above the badge, or a short spike, sometimes topped with a ball. Luton Borough Police (1876-1947) wore a straw helmet in a similar style to the Bermudan police helmet, with a small oval plate. During WW2, all police services wore a plain peaked cap, or a military style steel helmet when appropriate.
The tunic went through many lengths and styles, with the Metropolitan Police adopting the open-neck style in 1948 (although senior and female officers adopted it before that time). Senior officers used to wear peaked pillbox-style caps until the adoption of the wider peaked cap worn today. The custodian helmet was phased out in Scotland in the early 1950s.
Female officers' uniforms have gone through a great variety of styles, as they have tended to reflect the women's fashions of the time. Tunic style, skirt length and headgear have varied by period and force. By the late 1980s, the female working uniform was identical to the male uniform, except for headgear and sometimes neckwear.