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Many other police departments soon followed the Menlo Park lead. Officers wore their weapons concealed under their coats. The new uniforms consisted of green blazers, black slacks, a white shirt and black necktie. One of the biggest evolutionary experiments in police uniform design began in 1969, when the police department in Menlo Park, California moved away from typical police uniforms, opting instead for a dress style designed to better emulate civilian fashion trends and communicate a "softer" appearance. Beginning in the 1930s, officers more frequently began wearing their personal gear on a Sam Browne belt worn outside the coat, for ease of access. Many early uniforms had loose-fitting jackets that would conceal a police officer's equipment, such as truncheon and sidearm. īy the early 20th century, the style and form of American police uniforms had essentially settled into its modern pattern of button-up shirts, neckties, slacks and military-style blouses with unbanded collars, all worn with peaked hats. The Orange County, California sheriff's office, for instance, did not adopt a uniform until 1938. In many states this practice continued well into the following century. In rural areas, where preventative policing was limited or non-existent, sheriff's deputies continued to wear civilian attire, using only their badge as a mark of identification. Cover typically took the form of stovepipe hats, a starched woolen head cover similar in appearance to a top hat but with a squatter dimension, or British-style custodian helmets. The navy blue uniforms adopted by many police departments in this early period were simply surplus United States Army uniforms from the Civil War. Ī New York City police officer, wearing a custodian helmet, answers a visitor's questions at the corner of Fulton and Broadway in 1899. New York City was followed, in 1858, by Boston, Chicago, and soon thereafter, other cities. Nonetheless, in 1854, the New York City Police Department became the United States' first municipal police force to issue uniforms to its officers.
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While uniforms for police had been introduced in the United Kingdom as early as 1828, adoption of standardized dress in the United States took longer, with many of the new police objecting to uniforms out of concern they would be subject to public ridicule.
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The advent of professional police forces in the United States foreshadowed the introduction of standardized police uniforms. Early law enforcement functions were largely performed by volunteer watchmen as well as elected or appointed constables and sheriffs, who were paid by the fee system for warrants they served. The new 1854 regulation uniforms of the New York City Municipal Police were the first and earliest police uniforms worn in the United StatesĬentralized, municipally-managed police departments were unknown in the United States prior to the 1830s.