Name/Title
Sussex Police female constable's tunic c1995 - 2002Entry/Object ID
2292Description
Black wool female police constable's tunic with three small buttons to the front, two waist pockets, and the chromed metal letters and numbers "DB705" on each shoulder. All buttons are chrome plated, marked with a Queen's a crown and stamped to the rear "Firmin London". On each lapel is a Sussex Police coat of arms shield badge. Inside on a label is marked "Dewhirst of England" and on another "14R".Use
For use by a female constable in Sussex PoliceContext
In May 1970 Sussex Constabulary began trials of the "Hartnell" women's uniform, which had been in use in the Metropolitan Police since 1968, having been designed by couturier Norman Hartnell. However the force did not adopt it and continued to use a tunic with four pockets, all with buttons.
Instead, in 1972 Sussex Constabulary in line with many other police forces, adopted what was known as the "Surrey style" uniform for its female officers. This consisted of a short tailored tunic, normally with only two waist pockets, epaulettes and no belt. This style of tunic, with some variations, continued to be issued to female officers until 2002, when tunics were withdrawn for all but limited ceremonial occasions. These variations included reducing the number of front buttons to three and removing the epaulettes.
This particular tunic is clearly from Sussex Police due to the use of alpha numeric warrant numbers on the shoulder, the "D" and "B" identifying the officer to who it was issued as a female whose surname began with "B". The use of the "D" was introduced in the late 1980s and the lack of epaulettes, and use of three plain buttons indicate that this is a later model of tunic that was introduced in the 1990s. At this time plainer tunics were introduced for both male and female officers and the use of buttons marked "Sussex Police" was abandoned.