It’s so PC! Now police to ditch male and female hats for ‘gender neutral’ caps
Unisex move branded ‘waste of cash’
THE time-honoured tradition of different hats for male and female officers is being ditched – as Police Scotland ramps up efforts to be a gender-neutral force.
A memo sent to staff last week announced that work is under way to identify new unisex headgear.
The move is intended to make sure that the force ‘does not discriminate against any person’.
In the meantime, usual uniform rules have been relaxed to allow officers to wear police baseball caps if they wish for all duties.
For decades an official police hat has been part of the default operational uniform, with men expected to wear a peaked cap marked with the force’s badge and a black and white chequered band, while women wear a similarly decorated bowler hat.
The hat is now the only item of police uniform that is different for male and female officers.
Usually only officers on specialist duties away from the front line, such as search teams and firearms squads, are routinely allowed to wear baseball caps.
Yesterday some officers greeted the move with bemusement.
One male officer said: ‘It’s bowing to the snowflakes.’
Another warned that baseball caps could be ‘too scruffy’ for certain duties, such as breaking bad news to members of the public or attending road traffic accidents. A memo was circulated to all officers last week entitled: ‘Wearing of gender neutral hats.’
It said: ‘Several requests have been made for guidance to officers who wish to wear gender neutral hats and to permit the issue of such hats. Police Scotland continually seeks to ensure its policy and practice does not discriminate against any person.
‘The chief constable has directed that work commence to identify a single hat for officers.
‘As an interim measure, officers who do not wish to wear genderspecific hats can be issued with a gender neutral hat such as a police issue baseball cap or bump cap.’
A bump cap is like a baseball cap but includes a lightweight protective layer to guard against scrapes and knocks.
Yesterday, politicians questioned if the issue of gender-neutral hats should be regarded as a priority.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘At a time when violent crime is on the rise, the public expect police to use the limited resources which they have from the SNP to focus on the job.
‘Deciding what type of headgear officers wear should be pretty low on the list of priorities.
‘Police Scotland is underresourced and officers are doing a fantastic job, but this kind of thing will be viewed by many as a waste of time and money.’ The decision by the Chief Constable to find a gender neutral hat comes only days after figures showed murders in Scotland have risen by almost 40 per cent in the past year, from 13 to 18. Cases of violence have increased by 15 per cent, while sex offences increased by 6 per cent.
Almost 10,000 drug crimes were recorded between April and June, a 14 per cent rise to 9,761.
Yesterday, Police Scotland said: ‘Officers are now permitted to wear police-issue baseball caps after requests to allow gender neutral headwear. The caps have been widely used by specialist officers for a number of years and other UK forces have adopted them as a non-gendered option.
‘The decision is in line with our commitment to support an inclusive workforce and organisation.’
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said: ‘Where an officer would prefer not to wear a genderspecific hat, it is right they have that option.
‘The caps are clearly marked as police uniform. Work will commence to consider a single design for officers and the current male and female hats will remain available in the meantime.’