Name/Title
Sussex Police "Custodian" re-enforced helmet c1985-1999Entry/Object ID
267Description
Blue two panelled felt covered, ABS plastic Sussex Police re-enforced "Custodian" helmet with chrome rose top and chrome Sussex Police Queen's Crown "EIIR" one piece helmet plate. Fitted with two chrome bands. The inside has white foam pads and the headband black foam padding which is deteriorating. There is a black webbing harness chinstrap and a black metal hat band held in place with two rose shapes studs. Marked inside " Custodian Helmet, Compton Webb (Headdress Ltd. 94 Newland, Witney, Oxon, GB".Use
Standard headress for a male constable or sergeant in Sussex PoliceContext
This style of police helmet with a rose top, has been standard uniform headdress in Sussex since the smaller forces were amalgamated to form Sussex Constabulary in 1968. The badge or "helmet plate", on this helmet was in use in Sussex from 1974, when the Force name was changed from "Sussex Constabulary" to "Sussex Police", and remained in use until 1999 when a new badge was introduced with a coat of arms. Police helmets were traditionally made of cork or pressed felt but by the 1970s police forces were beginning to use plastics.
In 1977 in response to growing levels of public disorder and concerns over officer safety the Metropolitan Police introduced a new helmet made of ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic with cork padding inserts and a webbing harness strap. These helmets were identical in outside appearance to the traditional cork helmets and were intended initially only for public order use. They were coloured green on the inside to mimic the lining on cork helmets. Other police forces followed and by the 1980s the re-enforced helmet began to be adopted as the standard helmet in place of un re-enforced ones. After 1985 the insides were coloured black and the earlier cork padding was replaced with white foam (Avon and Somerset Constabulary blog post 6/6/15).
These type of re-enforced police helmets are now generically referred to as "Custodian" helmets after the "Custodian Helmet" brand of uniform suppliers "Compton Webb". However the name is often wrongly given to older lightweight police helmets, when in fact the name "Custodian" only dates to the introduction of re-enforced helmets.
This particular helmet has written inside it SC 1789, indicating that it had been issued to a special constable. In the past male specials were not issued with police helmet but wore caps. However in more recent years that have been permitted to wear helmets. These helmets were introduced in Sussex from the mid to late 1980s onwards. In 1999 the type of badge on this helmet was replaced with one displaying the Sussex Police coat of arms, with a Tower and Martlets. Since 2018 Sussex Police helmets have had a chrome plated hat band replacing the black one shown here, as a result of the joint uniform procurement with Surrey Police.