§ 78. Brigadier Medlicottasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what regulations govern the form of headgear to be worn by police forces in England and Wales; and what representations he has received for their alteration.
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfePolice regulations require all sergeants and constables to be provided with head-dress, but do not prescribe the type of head-dress to be worn. The helmet is, how-ever, the traditional form of head-dress and so recently as 1947 its retention was recommended by the Police Council Committee on Police Uniform as the normal head-dress for police sergeants and constables, on the understanding that a cap might be worn for some duties, such as motor car driving and motor cycling and, particularly in county forces, pedal cycling, for which it is considered more appropriate.
Representations were made in 1950 by the Police Federation, following the introduction of open neck jackets, that the flat cap should be introduced experimentally as the standard wear for ordinary outside police duty, but the recommendation was not accepted.