Dear Editor,
I have observed what seems to be a change of uniform for constables attached to the City Constabulary of Georgetown, from their traditional dark blue uniforms to light blue tops and dark bottoms.  These persons moving around the markets and around the city with these new outfits look more like security guards than policemen.

I would like to know if the Georgetown City Constabulary has changed its uniform just like that, without properly sensitising the public. Police departments all over the world are very strongly traditional and they want their officers to look like police officers. In other words, what the public associates with “police officer.”

Most people can identify a police officer by the official police uniform. When citizens on a busy street are in need of help, they scan the crowds of pedestrians looking for the distinctive uniform of a police officer. Drivers who come to an intersection tended by a person in a police uniform usually willingly submit to that person’s hand directions. Criminals usually curb their unlawful behaviour when they spot a uniformed police officer in the area. Many parents teach their children to respect and trust a person in the police uniform. How can the council just whimsically change the uniforms of their constables like that?

Everyone knows that their uniforms were made of cheap polyester and were poorly tailored, which resulted in them being hot and uncomfortable to wear and that they faded and turned purple after being laundered a few times, but that does not give them the right to just arbitrarily change them. They just needed to purchase high-quality and properly tailored apparel.

The traditional dark blue crisp uniforms of the City Constabulary conveyed power and authority. Even the slightest alterations to the style of this uniform will change how citizens perceive these constables. The City Constabulary uniform is a tradition as old as the Constabulary itself, patterned after the London Metropolitan Police, who developed the first standard police apparel.

These first police officers, the famous “Bobbies” of London, were issued a dark blue, para-military style uniform. The colour blue was chosen to distinguish the police from the British military, who wore red and white uniforms at the time. Darker colours may have been preferred for their ease in cleaning and their ability to help conceal the wearer in tactical situations. Dark colours help cover up stains and keep the officer from being easily spotted by law-breakers, especially at night. Is this change of uniform another hare-brained idea by the King and the Queen?

Regards
Riley Matthews