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The wearing of Custodian Helmets led to CID (Criminal Investigation Department) calling their uniformed colleagues ‘woodentops’. Christys & Co Ltd., est. 1773, have produced all forms of headwear and at the end of the 19 th century were the world’s largest hatters. They survived the predominantly hatless culture of the last third of the 20 th century by supplying high quality products and specializing in equestrian helmets. Their most famous helmet however, was the ‘Custodian’, designed by them for London’s Metropolitan Police Force in 1863; tested and then adopted in 1865; the progenitor of all subsequent ‘bobby’ helmets. Discussions concerning new headwear for the police had been on-going since at least 1844 (fig. 2). A Custodian Helmet is also known as a Policeman’s Helmet or Centurion Helmet and technically known as a ‘Home Office Pattern Helmet’. The Custodian Helmet is worn by policemen in England and Wales as the traditional headgear of the ‘Bobby on the beat’, worn by constables and sergeants on foot patrol. A Peaked Cap is worn by officers on mobile patrol in cars. Landy, Samantha (2013-06-14). "From military-style to navy blue threads: the evolution of the Victoria Police uniform". Herald Sun . Retrieved 2021-06-23.
The introduction of baseball caps hasn’t occurred without criticism from the general public, who have compared police officers to ‘Burger King workers’. As a result, some police forces have decided to revert the decision and return to the standard custodial helmet whilst other, more appropriate gender-neutral headwear has been decided upon. Why do traffic police wear white hats? Police forces in the UK did not issue custodian helmets to Special Constables up until around 1995; however those forces retaining the helmet now issue them to all male officers. Female officers usually wear a bowler with a badge. Recently, efforts have been made to make headwear more gender-neutral. An example of this is Hertfordshire Police who have given officers the option to wear identical headwear, regardless of gender. Why do some police officers wear Baseball caps? The lists of police uniforms and equipment here are not exhaustive, nor specific for each force, but give a general overview of typical 'kit' used in the United Kingdom. Other private or specialised police forces, such as ports police or parks police, are again generally unarmed in Great Britain and rely on armed support from territorial police forces, if needed.Figure 13. The Indo-British family of light-weight ‘service’ Helmets and the dragoon helmet. Left, a lightweight ventilated Ellwood ‘Air Chamber’ sun helmet, unofficially called the ‘Air Pipe’, patented in 1851, probably the inspiration for Christys’ when they developed the first Custodian pattern 1863. Left Center, a British dragoon helmet shape in existence from at least 1842 (although this is an 1847 model), probably inspired the ornamentation on the Christys’ alternative style ‘bell’ shaped Custodian introduced around 1875. Center Right, an example of Christys’ 1875 alternative bell shaped Custodian police helmet. The company themselves have said it was based on the Home Service Helmet; Right, the Home Service Helmet, officially adopted in 1878, but versions had been unofficially in use and trialed for many years, perhaps explaining the miss-match in design/adoption dates stated for the ‘Custodian’ and ‘Home Service Helmet’. Their appearance, however, can probably be seen as coeval, with the police simply being offered the new military pattern as an alternative to the coxcomb. In the United Kingdom (with the exception of Northern Ireland), the majority of police officers do not routinely carry firearms. This originates from the formation of the Metropolitan Police in the nineteenth century, when police were not armed, partly to counter public fears and objections concerning armed enforcers. I am intrigued to learn that the 1863 pattern was called the ‘Custodian’. I have believed for some time that ‘Custodian’ is a Christy’s Trade Mark model name from around the early 1980s (maybe a bit earlier), that became the pretty much universal police ‘insider’ term for the helmets over the last 40 years just because it was by far the most common type. Therefore not really applicable to nineteenth-century helmets, and certainly not for similar helmets used in other countries. I have done quite a bit of original research in this area, and I have never seen the name Custodian appear in nineteenth or early twentieth century sources. However, I may be wrong! If there is some evidence that it was the official (or unofficial) term for the British police helmets earlier than the 1970s this I’d genuinely love to know about it. http://gmic.co.uk/topic/49271-british-police-headgear-moderators39-recommended/ this discussion covers most of the points mentioned in this article. to neighbours or to facilitate working in groups away from the direction of the control room. Interoperability with other emergency services was also poor, and was criticised in reports after the Hillsborough and Kings Cross disasters. Most forces’ equipment could not transfer data or text messages – a growing operational requirement. Few had any form of encryption and were susceptible to monitoring by anyone prepared to buy cheap scanning equipment. In addition, almost every force had areas in which the police and other emergency services operated without effective radio coverage. [25]
Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2000-06-05 . Retrieved 2010-12-13. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link) As well as in the UK, other forces currently using the custodian helmet include the States of Jersey Police, States of Guernsey Police Service, Isle of Man Constabulary, Royal Gibraltar Police, and Bermuda Police. The term "custodian" originated as a specific make of helmet used in Britain in the late-twentieth century. Because of this, "custodian" was never an official or unofficial name for similar helmets worn in other parts of the Commonwealth. As of September 2021, Essex Police no longer restricts any force-issue headwear by gender. Any new officer recruited since may choose between a custodian helmet or bowler hat, plus an additional peaked cap. [21] Identification [ edit ] Since the 1950s, helmets have no longer been worn by police officers in Scotland, but may be seen worn by Metropolitan Police officers when on Royal duties in Scotland. They ceased to be worn in Northern Ireland after the 1920s, except for night patrol work in Belfast and Derry until the early 1960s.Interestingly enough, other countries also adopted similar versions of the hat in their police forces such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand from the late nineteenth century until recently. Every territorial police force has a number of officers who are routinely armed in units generally called Armed Response Vehicles. Certain specialist squads, such as the Flying Squad, Special Branch, Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection, Royal and Specialist Protection, and officers protecting airports along with government buildings, are routinely armed. Of the 43 Home Office territorial forces in England and Wales, 20 currently use the comb style, eighteen use the rosetop style, and four use the ball style. Some forces wore spikes on top of the helmet, although these have now been completely phased out. The Effectiveness of the Aluminium Foil ‘Drop Lining’ in WWII Wolseley Sun Helmets. A Simple Experiment. Helmet from the United Kingdom The custodian helmet used by the Metropolitan Police Service in London
Police Community Support Officers only wear peaked caps, which have a blue or grey band on them rather than the police officer's Sillitoe tartan to distinguish them from police officers. a b "Custodian Helmet – Policeman's Helmet for Bobbies". Hatguide.co.uk . Retrieved 12 April 2023. The Custodian Helmet is worn by policemen in England and Wales as the traditional headgear of the 'Bobby on the beat', worn by constables and sergeants on foot patrol. Helmets closely following the British model were widely worn by the police forces of Canada, Australia and New Zealand from the late nineteenth century on until they were replaced. The New Zealand Police retained a white version until the 1990s. Other names for a Custodian Helmet
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It is important to note, however, that by the 1850s and through the 1860s British hatters Ellwood & Sons were producing sun helmets for the Indian Military, Administration and public (figs., 1, 3, 4, 14, 15 & 18), these had been developed from traditional rural Bengali sun helmets. So very similar, and at the time ‘modern’ designs, using the same materials and construction techniques as subsequently used in the Custodian, were already being produced in Britain. And in fact Ellwood & Sons, the patent holders of the ‘Air Chamber Helmet’ launched legal proceedings against Christys in June 1864, whilst the Custodian was being trialed. Perhaps implying they considered the Custodian a close enough copy of their Air Chamber sun helmet to warrant action. This raises the possibility that there was no input to the original Custodian’s design from traditional European military helmets. Within a year or two, it was shortened to be more like the sun helmet, but still had an up-turned brim.
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