Uniformity
The Policeman's Blog mentions that his force is considering issuing black shirts to all officers, but management are not sure as it may make the police less approachable. My force currently let only specfic jobs wear black polo shirts, and personally it irritates me, as I would much rather wear them as they are more comfortable, and a damn sight easier to wash (less ironing!) than white shirts and ties. They look just as smart due to the fact that pretty much everything is covered by the stab vest/utility harness/hi vis jackets anyway, and it would then also mean that the white shirt and tie could be kept as a dress uniform for court, and the much more practical polo shirt be used for when you are chasing people over fences or grappling with a vomit, piss and blood covered drunk. On a safety side, if someone grabs my shirt collar they could use it to strangle or at the very least move me around a bit - that wouldn't be the case with a polo shirt.And what of the 'It makes police unapproachable' argument - seeing as that seems to be the ONLY reason against them? Lets take a look at it by breaking the public down into groups, and seeing if they would approach us if the uniform changed:
The Eldery: A group which I accept may possibly comment that we no longer look so smart as we used to. However, they say that anyway, due to the fact that after layering on all of the relevant kit, and then trying to stretch a high visibility jacket to fit over the top, we mostly look more like Mr Blobby after an adverse reaction to steroids than anything else.
The Business People: Unless they happen to be in the business of selling white shirts with extra buttons, I can't see any complaint from this area of society. And besides, the people who sell the black polo shirts will balance this out nicely. With regards to approachability, I can't see any change.
The Victims: As much as I try, I really can't imagine anyone who has been attacked/robbed running towards a policeman for help, and then coming to a screeching halt and changing their mind due to the fact that the officer is wearing a polo shirt rather than a shirt. "Well officer, I was going to report a robbery to you, but as you don't see fit to wear a tie, I'm not going to bother."
The Scrotes: These will undoubtably find us just as approachable as before: i.e. they will run when they spot us coming, due to the most recent crime they committed. If we were wearing black polo shirts, it might even mean we can sneak up a bit closer before they start running!
The Kids: Again, I can't see the new "Stranger Danger" campaign being amended to "If you're lost, seek out a relative, a teacher or a policeman - as long as he's wearing a tie."
And everyone else... I'm sure will happily be able to continue on with their lives, without losing a minutes sleep over the uniform change. Unlike the polce management, who I'm sure are paying thousands of pounds to many people to sit around arguing the decision out, only to decide that the best course of action can only be the one least liked by the greatest number of officers. Its a forumla they use, I'm sure of it.
posted by A non mouse
14 Comments:
I can't say that a black polo shirt would make police look more unapproachable to me. However, I think the real reason that people in authority oppose it is that they know full well that if they dress the police up in blackshirts then it won't take the Sun five minutes to start making comparisons to Hitler's blackshirts; or the Mail to start talking about police states etc etc
Cops miss the point again. The more you look like military, the more you will act like them, and the more you will be treated as outside enforcers, rather than supporters of the law with the peoples' help
Look like old - fashioned policemen and mabe you will behave that way & we'll all be better off.
With dress tunic and twriling a baton walking down the streets ?
Time people stopped clining on to old mode ideas and move on.
The amouont of kit worn by officers now make it ineffective to wear such items
Metvest,belt kit raidos etc. ! hell even with the new airwave raidos 90% of all officers in an airwave location have to carry TWO (2) raidos the new airwave and the old motorola ones !
Maybe there could be a reduction in equipment? Get the old chain hand cuffs back instead of these modern solid lumps, reintroduce the whistle and ditch the radios... maybe i'd settle for the use of a mobile instead of a whistle, i'm easy on that one! A plain notebook, i.e. one with rules lines and nothing else for you to note everything down in rather than the forest of forms.
I think if we slim down the equipment sufficiently then the police can return to the good old days of twirling battons and maybe even a nice tophat and tails!
Oh yes, and skirts for the ladies instead of those trousers that make their arses look huge!
If we went back to the original (1980)uniform I could show off my nice new medal.
I always wonder why, when we are loaded with all this high tech gadgetry, when all we had in the old days was a whistle a radio with two yellow batteries that worked ..... sometimes, a pair of chain link cuffs and length of wood.
We still have to wear that ridiculous helmet. there is nothing so humorous as seeing a short male officer, and there are plenty of them about now the height restriction has been scrapped waddling along the high street wrapped in swaddling clothes (stab vest) topped off by an appendage that should have been left in the 19th Century.
I dare say some one will mention health and safety, or the proliferation of firearms ... even tho' those nice labor people banned them from ....... oh sorry it was only from the law biding wasn't it?
Er... No. I'm pretty sure that it is illegal for criminals to have firearms as well.
Strathclyde issue black t-shirt style as a matter of course to all operational officers and it's been that way for some time now. Can't say I've ever had any issues with any group of the public but it is so much more practical under all your uniform.
"Cops miss the point again. The more you look like military, the more you will act like them,"
So you judge me, someone you've never met, purely based on being a PC in a black Polo shirt? How dare you, you've never met, spoken or dealt with me! Perhaps it's your pre-determined attitude to someone based on how they look or the station they hold that is the issue here, not what my uniform is? I know if I projected that attitude of pre-determined guilt based on someone's place in society I'd be in front of a disciplinary board toot sweet, and yet you seem to feel it's perfectly okay to adopt that exact attitude to me? I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest you're the problem here, not a black polo shirt.
We are about to be issued with the balck polo shirts instead of our white shirts, as strathclyde did some time ago.
we've also been told we will wear the same uniform for things like court,as people want to see us as we were at the time of an incident (allegedly) and not dressed up different.
the best thing about the new polo shirts, they don't need ironed, if they could issue us with trousers that dont need ironed we'd be sorted
The polos sound like a good solution to me...I've often wondered how on earth you fit anything under all the vests and such. I think Nick's right about the Sun & Mail going for the easy reaction but who cares?
Love the Mr Blobby remark btw...I may never be able to look at a policeman in the same way again!
"we will wear the same uniform for things like court,as people want to see us as we were at the time of an incident (allegedly) and not dressed up different."
Fantastic - then lets level the playing field and have everyone else turn up in a similar fashion;
The defendant can dispense with his ill fitting suit borrowed from a friend of a friend and instead appear before the bench in his dirty smelly trainers, track trousers and hooded top - his brief (and the magistrates for that matter) can turn up in their jim-jams and me? - a load of ill fitting uniform over which I will drape a stab vest and equipment vest and a dirty yellow motorway coat with a varying degrees of dirt, grease, blood, sweat and tears spread across it ----- how professional! (not!!)
Whatever happened to a sense of pride in the way you look.
If the magistrates really feel the need to see what we looked like at the time of the incident (and quite how that is going to help is beyond me) lets dispense with custody areas and have 24hr courts instead so we can wheel them straight in :-)
All these people who complain that black shirts make us look too militaristic, could you please wake up and remember where the influence for the original Police uniform came from.
Tunics - as worn by Army and Air Force?
The NATO sweater - NATO, that's a military organisation, isn't it?
Big hat - wonder where I've seen that one before?
The argument is without any sensible foundation. Keep the dress uniform for important occasions (like the Armed Services have always done) and have comfortable, practical clothing for everyday use.
We were on the brink of getting black polo shirts, then in comes a new Chief & it's back to white shirts & ties. Mmmmm, that improved morale..
I have no problem dressing like a relic of the 1950's, but lets have a level playing field.
Nurses should immediately revert back to starched dresses.
Fireman should bring back their high collar pseudo military tunics & polished brass helmets.
Ambulance staff will wear their black military style uniforms & be soley equipped with a stretcher.
MP's should wear bow ties & bowler hats (including David Cameron)
Think of the potential tourist revenue it could generate. "Come to Great Britain, the only 1950's theme park"
I hate the shirts and ties we wear. Garbage and outdated. Hopefully someone will be forward thinking enough in S.yorks to dump them.
Helmets are also shite. Flat caps please. I don't want to wait until inspector or traffic :P
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