Flat hats are back as police forces ditch baseball caps for traditional headgear…with bowler hats for female officers
- Lancashire Police are ditching their gender-neutral American-style baseball caps
- Instead, the force is spending £40,000 on new headgear for men and women
- Female officers will wear bowler hats and male officers will wear white flat caps
A police force is bringing back traditional headgear to bolster officers’ authority.
The goalie helmet has been phased out in recent years in favor of gender-neutral baseball caps.
Now Lancashire Police must remove American-style, pictured, headgear for all officers.
The force is spending £40,000 on bowler hats for women and white flat caps for men.
Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden said: ‘This change is about strengthening the authority figures that police should have in our communities.
Lancashire Police are moving away from neutral American-style baseball caps in favor of traditional headgear, including bowler hats for female officers and flat caps for men.
It comes just six years after the force spent thousands on caps which it hailed as ‘more practical’.
Yesterday Chief Constable Chris Rowley revealed that caps were hated by many officers: “This issue has been brought up to me consistently for over a year by officers who don’t like to wear baseball caps, and I’ve always thought traditional headgear is smarter and presents a more professional appearance to the public.
“I make it clear to my staff – both new recruits and officers with more service – that I have high standards. I expect them to be smart when on duty, and I expect them to provide high quality service to our communities.
Traditional flat caps will be issued to all male officers, with female officers having the option of wearing bowler hats which will include Lancashire Police badges.
Many officers who kept their old headgear have already started wearing them on the street.
The force is just the latest to remove baseball caps which have been compared to a ‘Burger King’ uniform by some critics who have complained of making officers look like ‘Jimmy Krankie’.
Northamptonshire Police have paid more than £23,000 to introduce baseball caps after research suggested the new headgear would eliminate the problem of transgender officers having to choose between goalie helmets for men and bowler hats for the women.
But two years later, Chief Constable Nick Adderley said they didn’t “represent the right image”.
Not everyone was pleased with Lancashire Police’s announcement, however.
Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Phil Riley told his local newspaper: ‘It seems like a strange thing to do.
“I don’t see how it will help with the priorities the public has for the police.
“Sounds like a weird way to spend £40,000. There must be better ways to spend it.
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