Name/Title
Sussex Police Traffic Warden's cap badge c1980Entry/Object ID
265Description
Gold coloured metal shield shaped cap badge with blue and gold enamel design of the Sussex Police Tower and Martlets coat of arms under the words "Traffic Warden". Has two circular lugs to rear. No maker's marks.Use
To be worn on a Sussex Police Traffic Warden's hat.Context
With increased car ownership in the years after the Second World War parking congestion became a problem, especially in large towns and cities, and was a drain upon police resources. New parking restrictions were introduced and in 1957 double yellow lines and parking meters were brought in. However it was still the responsibility of police officers to enforce these restrictions. In an attempt to free up police officers, in 1960 fixed penalty notices or "parking tickets" were introduced and the first Traffic Wardens were employed in London. Throughout the 1960s other areas followed. Dealing with parking offences was still the responsibility of local police forces but rather than use officers, they employed traffic wardens to carry out the role.
Sussex was no exception with forces such as Hastings Borough Police, employing its first three traffic wardens in July 1965 (Poulsom, Rumble and Smith 1987). By the time of amalgamation in 1968 all of the Sussex forces are thought to have employed wardens and in the new Sussex Constabulary arrangements were made to employ 198 wardens. Traffic wardens became a familiar sight with their distinctive yellow cap bands and shoulder flashes.
Traffic Wardens often had some form of insignia relating to the police force that they represented. This particular badge has the Sussex Constabulary/Sussex Police coat of arms on it and dates to sometime between 1968 and 1995. It would have been displayed on a traffic warden's cap or female equivalent and probably dates to c1980.
By the 1990s there was a need for even more parking enforcement and in an attempt to free up police resources, parking enforcement became decriminalised under the 1991 Road Traffic Act. This meant that local authorities could take over responsibility for parking and retain the proceeds of both parking charges and fines. As a result police forces began do away with traffic wardens and they were replaced with local authority contacted parking enforcement officers, who tended to wear light blue caps and uniforms. In Sussex Police many traffic wardens were offered roles as Police Community Support Officers as an alternative to redundancy and there are no longer any employed by the force.
In some parts of Sussex local authorities have still not taken over responsibly for on road parking enforcement and this continues to cause some friction with Sussex Police, who maintain that parking enforcement is not a policing priority and is best dealt with by local authorities.