Talk:Police uniforms and equipment in the United Kingdom

Untitled

Can someone please write a lead for this article? Thank you Dep. Garcia ( Talk + | Help Desk | Complaints ) 09:25, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you SGGH! Dep. Garcia ( Talk + | Help Desk | Complaints ) 19:32, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Lamborghini Gallardo

Is this really a correct pictur to use here? The car itself was only on loan from Lamborghini London, and was only used for publicity, never as a working car. Darkson (Yabba Dabba Doo!) 15:35, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

CS 'Gas'

CS as issued to the British police is a liquid spray, not a gas. Changed to reflect this. 82.33.116.37 (talk) 09:57, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

You misunderstood the statement. It is talking about CS being a prohibited Section 5 weapon, so the spray distinction doesn't apply. Nick Cooper (talk) 10:14, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Airwvae Radio

The airwave radio system was not designed in the aftermath to 9/11 at all, indeed it was already being tested in parts of the UK in 2001!

The intial idea was around the earlies 90's, with BT being given the go ahead in 1998.

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/pdf/home_office/spring2000/p66.pdf 82.47.105.53 (talk) 12:08, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

 Done Thank you for pointing this out! ninety:one 17:07, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

Niton Equipment

" Companies such as Niton Equipment allow officers to purchase the latest technology and designs to remain at the forefront of operational abilities."

That is advertising the company. It shouldn't be there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MikeWhile (talk • contribs) 03:54, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Similarity to the Law enforcement Japan article

Hi, I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but part of this page is almost identical to parts of the law enforcement Japan page. I'm not sure which page was written first, and maybe this type of copying is allowed on wikipedia, but it seems odd that both pages are so similar and perhaps they should be changed?

The Police uniforms and equipment in the United Kingdom page reads like this:

"For much of the twentieth century up to the mid 1990s, male police officers wore a formal work jacket with polished silver buttons, and black trousers with a sewn in truncheon pocket. No stab vest was worn and much less equipment was carried than is today. Following concerns about the police uniforms safety it was suggested that the uniform should be changed.[10]

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 hampering in some situations. In 1994 the Home Office, in agreement with the government and on the cooperation of many Chief Constables, changed the uniform from the business attire with no protection of the torso, to a uniform with black trousers, stab vest, duty belt and reflective jacket."

And the Law enforcement Japan page reads like this:

"For much of the twentieth century up to the mid 1990s, police officers wore a formal work uniform consisting of a tunic or Ike jacket with polished silver buttons, and trousers with a sewn in truncheon pocket. No stab vest was worn and much less equipment was carried than is today. Following concerns about the police uniforms safety it was suggested that the uniform should be changed.

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 hampering in some situations. The NPA, in agreement with the government and on the cooperation of the Prefecture Chiefs of Police, changed the uniform from the business attire with no protection of the torso, to a uniform of button down shirt with trousers, stab vest, duty belt, and jacket when needed."

I don't feel comfortable changing either page, I have little knowledge on either police force, and I'm not even sure if this type of similarity is actually a problem on wikipedia. Just thought I'd share this similarity so that one of the page editors (of either page) could make changes if they wished.

Cheers, Fionaalison (talk) 14:20, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Meaningless statement

"Increasingly officers are wearing 'Tactical' uniform to perform everyday roles as the increased level of equipment carried on the police duty belts and operational requirements expand"

Because there is no linked definition of what a "tactical" uniform or an "everyday role" is, I'm going to remove this statement unless someone can improve it. The use of the word "tactical" also sounds like a stab at implying the British police are too militaristic, which is an unsourced (and IMHO ill-informed) opinion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.143.133.114 (talk) 14:48, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

Earliest recognisable mainstream police force

"earliest recognisable mainstream police force in the country with the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829. Allowing the formation of the Metropolitan Police Service,"

At least to component parts of the Metropolitan Police Service predated 1829 - Mounted Branch (formed as the Bow Street Horse Patrol in 1760) and Marine Policing Unit (formed as the Marine Police Force in 1798). --Thefrood (talk) 20:53, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

'Bullet Proof' vests

On thw 4th November I was talking to a police officer (a Kiwi, in fact) and he told me that the Cambridgeshire police force (at least) wear a 'bullet proof' vest. He was ex-army and pointed out that the vest was only proof against 9mm bullets i.e. handguns and submachine guns. He pointed out that the criminals were now swapping over to something with more penetration power. I presume semi-automatic rifles. Other news stories in the news suggest that ALL forces were getting the vests. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.106.56.145 (talk) 12:03, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

Police officers wear anti-stab vests that have some utility against low-velocity rounds. It would seem doubtful that forces would change en masse to body armour that provides protection again high velocity ammunition for the simple reasons that a) they would be less effective against knives, which are the major and real threat, and b) police getting shot in the UK in the first place is incredibly rare, and being shot with high-velocity ammunition ever more rare. Nick Cooper (talk) 18:52, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

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Uniform changes

To the casual observer the introduction to the entry on uniforms seems outdated. The Metropolitan Police in their white shirts and false ties seem almost to be outliers. Many if not most police forces seem to have moved on to smarter and more practical blue or black short-sleeved shirts and no ties. It might also be noted that even the tactical units of the Metropolitan Police, such as firearms and dog units, have forsaken the white shirt and tie.

It is also inappropriate to include information about police uniforms in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Gibraltar in an entry on police uniforms in the United Kingdom. These jurisdictions are dependencies and not parts of the UK. Mokti (talk) 08:33, 15 September 2016 (UTC)

A passing mention on the similarities is hardly "inappropriate." It's not like there a whole section on them. Nick Cooper (talk) 10:49, 15 September 2016 (UTC)

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Berets

This article seems not to include anything about police berets. Some information and a photograph about them could be added. --Dreddmoto (talk) 15:45, 31 October 2019 (UTC)

They've only ever been worn by a small number of officers, usually in firearms units. I'm not sure if they're even worn any more. I haven't seen an officer wearing one in a long time. -- Necrothesp (talk) 16:03, 31 October 2019 (UTC)

Can confirm, not worn by police any longer, even in specialist units Bowchaser (talk) 16:15, 31 October 2019 (UTC)

Necrothesp and Bowchaser, thanks for replying. Perhaps there could be a small mention of this in the section 2.1 Uniform history of this article? Doing that could then allow a chance to include a link to the section 1.20 United Kingdom of the Uniform beret article. --Dreddmoto (talk) 17:22, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

2.2 Current uniform

That section includes 2.2.5 Headgear, which contains a wordy description of Sillitoe tartan on police officers' caps and bowlers. Considering that the use of different colours by different forces is already covered by the United Kingdom section of the Sillitoe tartan article, does it need to be repeated here? 2.2.5 Headgear does not mention something that is in the Sillitoe tartan article, which is that red and white squares are also worn by Hampstead Heath Constabulary officers.

Because of this, the relevant sentence could be edited to something like: Most officers wear a black and white diced band (called Sillitoe tartan) around the hat. Information about the different colours would still be available by clicking the link to the Sillitoe tartan article. --Dreddmoto (talk) 01:33, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Agreed. Nor is any mention made of the blue-and-white tartan colour scheme on some PCSO headwear, despite being illustrated below. Seems sensible to condense that section down to the article link if not every style is described.

While we're on the subject of 2.2.5 Headgear: I feel that it could do with reorganising to describe one hat/helmet per paragraph (or even subsection). At the moment, one paragraph describes two hats; two describe one hat each; two more note gender-specific availability; one is about a policing role (PCSO); plus there's a short list of alternative headwear, which doesn't even include the NATO public order helmet. Given that the subsection is about "Headgear", would it not be sensible to group everything like this?

• Custodian Helmet
• Bowler Hat
• Flat Cap
• Baseball Cap
• Other headwear

Each paragraph or subsection could include a brief visual description, along with references to availability by force/role/gender. A rewrite could also include newer policy changes, such as (a better reference to) Cheshire Police's recent reintroduction of custodian helmets. I'd be happy to attempt this if you agree. --AlphonseSP (talk) 11:40, 07 Feburary 2022 (UTC)

A re-write as you propose would be excellent. Boldy JFDI! --10mmsocket (talk) 14:31, 7 February 2022 (UTC)

Alphonse that's very good and would make everything simpler. Please do. Your contribution is appreciated. --Dreddmoto (talk) 17:36, 8 February 2022 (UTC)

Headgear

Regarding that section, the edit of 13 March 2024 made an important point. It specified that the Sillitoe tartan is not worn on caps of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The next edit and the current version of that section only states that the band is not worn in Northern Ireland. That is misleading because the PSNI is not the only Northern Irish constabulary. The Belfast Harbour Police https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Harbour_Police and the Belfast International Airport Constabulary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_International_Airport_Constabulary also exist and the hats of those constabularies do include the Sillitoe tartan, which can be seen here https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/belfast-international-airport-police-body-13304438 and here https://i2-prod.belfastlive.co.uk/incoming/article13305000.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/IMG_2293JPG.jpg and https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/congratulations-to-our-police-sgt-richard-who-has-just-completed-his-management-diploma-well-done-fro--529735974896060018/

@Necrothesp: It would be helpful for readers who are not familiar with the uniforms of those constabularies if the absence of the tartan on PSNI caps was made clear. --Dreddmoto (talk) 23:27, 15 March 2024 (UTC)