Name/Title
Sussex Police male constable's or sergeant's cap c1995 - 2002Entry/Object ID
2225Description
Wool cap with chequered band, plastic chin strap, and fitted with a star shaped "Sussex Police" Queen's crown enamelled solid centre coat of arms cap badge. Makers marks "Weston Cap Limited". Size "60 7 1/2".Use
For use by a male constable or sergeant in Sussex PoliceContext
From the 1860s and for most of the 20th century standard uniform headgear for male constable's and sergeants in most English and Welsh police forces was the traditional police helmet. Caps were only worn by the few officers engaged in motor vehicle patrols, including those on motorcycles. As time went on and police forces relied more on vehicles the use of caps for lower ranks became more common, although those male officers engaged on foot patrol or public order operations in most police forces were expected to wear helmets, as they are to the present.
However it is important to note that even in the late 19th century helmets were not always used in some areas, with different styles of caps often being worn instead by constables' and sergeants. In much of Scotland helmets were abandoned in the early 20th century and never re-introduced
In Sussex the smaller police forces, retained helmets, although different styles were adopted over time. Interestingly, though both of the county forces did issue caps to their lower ranks instead of helmets. In the period 1882 - 1894 East Sussex Constabulary issued officers with a kepi style of cap for use with a summer uniform, and between 1921 and 1954 the force stopped issuing helmets altogether. In West Sussex Constabulary helmets were also abandoned in 1912, only to be re-introduced in 1936.
As late as the 1960s and 1970s caps were only issued to officers on permanent vehicle patrol duty and it was only later that they were more generally available within Sussex Police. Until 2018 caps were not used by female officers, who were instead given bowler type re-enforced hats. Since 2018 though, they have the option of wearing caps the same as their male colleagues.
This particular cap has the Sussex Police all ranks solid centre enamelled cap badge that was introduced in 1995 and was used until a similar but voided version was introduced in 2002.
Prior to the introduction of this badge constables and sergeants had a different cap badge to the ranks of inspector and above.