Police uniforms

Click here to see our selection of Police uniforms.

Police uniforms are essential for the preventative aspect of policing, and also for the immediate recognition of authority. Having officers be recognizable allows people to seek them for aid when necessary, but also became a way for criminals to pose as an officer and fool people into security while a crime is committed. The most notable occurrence of criminals posing as police was during the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, which thrust Al Capone into the public, and FBI spotlight.

During the prohibition of alcohol, many gangs vied to deliver and control alcohol in their cities, the largest and most dangerous gangs being in Chicago. Al Capone controlled one gang, and George “Bugs” Moran the other. Both had tried to kill each other, and were continually vying to take over the other’s power and territory. When one of Capone’s senior advisors, Jack “Machine Gun” McGurn, had an attempt on his life, Capone funded an assassination on Moran. McGurn went to great lengths to prepare and plan for the assassination of Moran, finding his garage hideout and arranging for a liquor hijacker to meet Moran at the garage for a deal.

The most important part of the plan involved two police uniforms and a patrol car. When lookouts mistakenly verified that Moran had entered the premises, four men – two in police uniforms – pulled up in a police car. They entered the garage, and Moran’s gang, seeing the uniforms and thinking it was one of the increasingly common police raids, allowed their guns to be surrendered and lined up facing a wall only to be brutally shot to death. When the two assassins in police uniforms came out holding guns to the backs of the other two assassins, observers thought it was a routine raid as well, allowing the perpetrators to escape. After the massacre was discovered, the police were believed to have committed it for weeks, temporarily damaging the already tarnished impression of the Chicago police department.

Despite the risk of fraud, police uniforms are essential for the protection of officers and citizens alike. All uniformed officers should have a visible badge and a proper identification card that corresponds with the badge number. Every police officer must furnish this information upon request. Most police uniforms are black or blue, or a combination of both, with traffic police uniforms having reflective strips, or one bright color such as neon yellow or orange, for added visibility.

The common blue uniforms of police has earned them the nick-name the “boys in blue”. The uniforms often contain a certain style of hat as well – the style varies by location and type of station. A Highway Patrol officer in Nevada wears a much different hat and uniform than a police officer in London. But the functionality of the police uniform is similar, many allowing bullet proof vests to be comfortably worn underneath, and all of them having many pockets and places to fasten the various tools any officers uses.

The utility belt often is the most important part of the uniform. Most police belts have a holster for a pistol, a place for multiple hand-cuffs, a place for a baton, extra cartridges and bullets, pepper spray and possibly a taser. Once filled with all the supplies, it provides everything an officer needs to keep the peace in normal circumstance. A uniform provides the functionality and visibility that every police officer or agent of the law needs.

Click to view cart

We accept all major credit cards