Police uniforms in Europe

[The Lawspeaker]

Police uniforms in Europe (http://www.designdenhaag.eu/police-uniforms)


Everywhere in Europe the police
have the same mission: order and safety. Still their appearance varies from country to country. In most European countries the traditional uniform colour is blue; recently Germany and Bulgaria also switched over to (a shade of) blue. With respect to the appearance of its uniform every country seeks to strike a balance between accessibility and authority, for example by opting for a sporty baseball cap or a stern hat, and between modernity and tradition, which especially appears from the frequent use of heraldic coats of arms. In addition, recognisability, safety and a comfortable fit play an important role in the design of the uniform.

On this page you will see uniforms of police officers as you may come across them in European streets and police stations, ceremonial uniforms which are worn at official occasions and uniforms of police organisations with a military status, like the French Gendarmerie and the Dutch Marechaussee, all recognisable as police, yet all slightly different.




The current Dutch uniforms:

http://www.powned.tv/images/fotos/agentenbant_gr.jpg


Apparently the new uniform of the new National Police (the Nationale Politie was created in the 2013 police reform (http://www.government.nl/issues/police/organisation-of-the-dutch-police)) - set to be introduced in 2014:

https://abonneren.rijksoverheid.nl/media/33/42/803631/2537/nationalepolitie1.jpg

(Apparently the "yellow shoulder" version has been selected as the new general type?)

The riot police already used an (adapted) version of the new uniform:

https://www.politieacademie.nl/overdepolitieacademie/nieuws/PublishingImages/ME%20in%20gesprek.jpg


(With all due respect: if the police tried to gained more respect by wearing new uniforms then they missed the point. The new uniforms look ugly).

This is apparently new police overcoat:

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/9136/11112011194.jpg

[liamliam]

British police uniforms:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TLNCcju9Yyw/TUF3NTGzucI/AAAAAAAACNE/gQ31JGYbV4U/s1600/british_bobby2.jpg

http://www.blencowefamilies.com/nl/181/images/181deli.jpg

http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/4/8/7/3/1/5/2879181146_75452ed528.jpg.jpg/EG11/resize/300x-1/quality/91

http://images.travelpod.com/tripwow/photos/ta-00a2-eff6-2a91/london-bobby-london-united-kingdom+1152_12856571299-tpfil02aw-26183.jpg

http://www.thetravelyear.com/images/photos/bri708_bobby_and_big_ben.jpg

http://www.szombat.org/files/2012/07/london_bobby.jpg?9d7bd4

http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/52375/bobby.jpg

http://images.travelpod.com/tripwow/photos/ta-00ce-a16e-6465/we-with-english-policeman-n1-england-england+1152_12953347470-tpfil02aw-26104.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll29/avila-mott/Week%201%20-%20London/62808FirstweekinEngland071.jpg

http://www.rtc-idyll.com/shell_dyll/contents/english_usage/images_english_usage/2010_09_02_policeman_sm_200x300.jpg

http://img3.photographersdirect.com/img/22442/wm/pd1682818.jpg

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/168/438657505_e740e054f6_z.jpg?zz=1

http://www.sac.edu/AcademicProgs/HST/CJA/PublishingImages/old%20school%20cop.jpg

http://biancaruby.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/img_0648.jpg

http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/81932697-ca-1900s-an-english-policeman-stands-on-the-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=GkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QVf8Rk%2FclH%2FkhyxQ2iwVS0rm ADJgve7o5GglOzec6mktjT5Htj63CLO30nQ2AZSsjw%3D%3D

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01447/horse_1447673c.jpg

http://www.policeoracle.com/news/files/0c5b9e3e6507fd647b4c3cd72d36d69f.jpg

[liamliam]

Irish:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2650/northernireland.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46922000/jpg/_46922885_000235754-1.jpg

http://dalje.com/slike/slike_3/r1/g2009/m03/x213197483584348294_5.jpg

http://www.psni.police.uk/dromore_website_pic.jpg

[Pallantides]

http://i.imgur.com/nRxYOlD.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/cW0zYKJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6jf4feo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2a5PJk1.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tOCf9fI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/kzuiumo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/daaqwX8.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Fjamy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/p0LxB6G.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/f8lSqsA.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YsKbpkt.jpg

[The Lawspeaker]

For the Dutch speakers among us: the history of the Dutch police and their uniforms (I found this PDF (http://www.politiemuseum.nl/UserFiles/File/UITERLIJKHEDEN%20VAN%20DE%20POLITIE.pdf) on the website of the Politiemuseum or National Police Museum).

[Lobotomist]

Danish police uniforms

http://www.politi.dk/NR/rdonlyres/4D57CA0E-FA0D-4250-AF71-7D7939160AF2/0/PATRULJEVOGN_JAKKER_1.jpg
http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/645/5/5645209-betjente-fr-koder-p-uniformen1.jpg
https://www.politi.dk/NR/rdonlyres/B1C8A996-E139-4DF5-BDD8-9850B459B594/0/PATRULJEJAKKER_2.jpg
http://b.bimg.dk/node-images/63/620x411-c/63566-slut-med-politiuniformer-p-datingsider--.jpg
http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/411/5/5411672-politi22.jpg
http://i2-images4.tv2net.dk/s/36/16410336-e750d401bc54feb59fad1edec27ec7d1.jpeg
https://www.politi.dk/NR/rdonlyres/B9FC0DEB-D23A-476B-A3A0-4E4C718F3B6A/0/NM2008Vardeweb.jpg
http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/842/4/4842203-politi.jpg
http://multimedia.ekstrabladet.dk/archive/00619/21379892_-_30_12_20_619572g.jpg

[1stLightHorse]

cool thread.
Not european...but.

Australian police: Various uniforms both ceremonial and working.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/11/alfagt-australia-pd.jpg
http://www.australianpolicecars.com/photos/Police-Pipe-Band---Fundraiser/01.jpg
http://www.japanfocus.org/data/AussiePolice.jpg
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40994000/jpg/_40994964_sydneyraid1_ap416.jpg
http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2013/03/08/1226593/555713-sert.jpg

[Methmatician]

Montenegrin Police Uniforms

http://www.upravapolicije.com/fajlovi/upravapolicije/galerija/foto/slike_files/p7170779-2012-7-18-23-21-00.jpg
http://www.upravapolicije.com/fajlovi/upravapolicije/galerija/foto/slike_files/foto--58--2012-7-24-01-38-00.jpg
http://www.upravapolicije.com/fajlovi/upravapolicije/galerija/foto/slike_files/picture13-2011-11-1-23-07-00.jpg
http://www.upravapolicije.com/fajlovi/upravapolicije/galerija/foto/slike_files/p1280922-2011-10-10-22-56-00.jpg
http://www.upravapolicije.com/fajlovi/upravapolicije/galerija/foto/slike_files/dsc_0255-2013-3-21-10-50-00.jpg

[The Lawspeaker]

Curaçao Police in Willemstad during the 1990s. Yes, Curaçao is still a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (although technically an independent country within the Kingdom):

http://resources21.kb.nl/gvn/KIT02/KIT02_20034610_X.jpg

Rijkspolitie (National Police) uniform (1947-1960s):

http://collectie.politiemuseum.nl/wwwopac/WWWOPAC.EXE?thumbnail=..%5CNedPolMus%5CAfbeeldinge n%5C37000%5C37005REG.JPG&outputtype=image/jpeg&xsize=285&dontkeepaspectratio=0&fullimage=1


Dutch Gemeentepolitie (County Police) in 1978:

http://www.hetutrechtsarchief.nl/beeld/Atlantis/544/_500/102544.jpg

Dummy (part of a private collection) wearing a 1962-1980 County Police summer uniform:

http://www.fpmt.nl/verzameling/europa/nederland/gemeentepolitie/uni/brigadier01front.jpg

http://www.fpmt.nl/verzameling/europa/nederland/gemeentepolitie/uni/brigadier01side.jpg

This shows where Curaçao may have gotten it's inspiration from.


Old Royal Marechaussee uniforms (Military police and Gendarmerie) - worn by reenactors:

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/7030/kmar4.jpg


In 1993 both County and National Police were replaced by a new, unified police force distributed over 25 districts. This police force has now been "liberated" from local political control and unified into a new National Police that unlike the old National Police (Rijkspolitie) is known as Nationale Politie.