Name/Title
Sussex Police female officer's handbag c1984Entry/Object ID
2424Description
Black leather handbag with zip fastening to the top, one internal side compartment and two external pockets, one rectangular and the other circular, both with chrome press fastenings.The rectangular pocket is missing its top flap. A leather adjustable shoulder strap is attached, with chrome plated buckle and a rubber shoulder pad. Inside is a label marked "Titheringtons of Liverpool Made in the UK 0519224422". The zip is marked "SAM".Use
For a female officer to use to carry their equipment and paperwork.Context
Handbags were first introduced in Sussex Constabulary in August 1968 at the same time the force adopted its first summer dress for female officers. These bags were intended to be used all year around for female officers to carry their notebooks, radios and any other items in. At that time, before the introduction of sex equality legislation, it was not common practice for female officers to be issued with truncheons, so they would not necessarily have been carried in the handbags. There is some debate as to exactly when all Sussex female officers were issued with truncheons, but it is likely to only have been routine after 1975, when all Sussex Police female officers took on exactly the same duties as their male colleagues. After that date small truncheons were also regularly carried in handbags, and at Gatwick Airport, they were also used by female firearm's officers to carry handguns until suitable pockets were eventually created in their uniform skirts.
The first style of handbags used in Sussex did not have external pockets but just had a side pocket with a separate zip. This particular handbag with its external pockets is a later version, the rectangular pocket being for a personal radio and the circular one for a pair of handcuffs. It was issued in 1984 to WPC BW254 Alison Wolfe (later WPC DH60 Alison Harrison) who joined Sussex Police on 7th June that year and was stationed at Horsham. Such bags are believed to have been used in Sussex since the late 1970s. They were subsequently replaced with a plain version with a zipped side pocket which was similar to those first issued in 1968. These simpler bags continued to be issued in Sussex until the mid 1990s when handbags were withdrawn altogether.