What do you think of the police uniform? Have your say

3 July 2024

The Dyfed Powys Police Federation wellbeing lead encourages members to tell the service how they feel about their uniform.

Dai Gaskins says it’s a chance to highlight issues with officer uniforms and to shape future decision-making.

The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has launched a National Police Uniform and Equipment Survey in collaboration with researchers at Lancaster University.

The survey will explore a range of issues from whether the uniform is fit for purpose to whether it’s comfortable, from whether it affects their health to how it makes officers feel.

Dai said: “This is the first time we’ve had a national survey about uniforms, and it’s a chance to have your say.

General comfort

“Some of our members have told us that the fit and finish and the general comfort of their uniform is an issue for them – and it won’t be unique to our Force.

“The survey is an opportunity to highlight those issues and to help shape future decisions.”

The survey is live now and closes on 12 August.   

 

 

It has had input from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Police Superintendents’ Association, UNISON and the Home Office.

Zac Mader, the Federation’s Welsh co-lead, is leading on the project with fellow National Board member and PFEW wellbeing lead Belinda Goodwin.

Zac echoed Dai’s call for as many members as possible to complete the survey.

He said: “This is the first opportunity our members have had to tell us and the police service how they feel about their uniform.

“Every day, in every station, there’s likely to be a conversation about uniform, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent.

“Our survey focuses on issues around uniform and interoperability with equipment and PPE.

“Is the uniform fit for purpose? How does it make people feel wearing it? Does it make you feel proud to be a police officer?

“This is a great opportunity for our members to have their say on what they think about their uniform and what they want from it, and we’d encourage as many as possible to complete it.

Changes

“We’ll use the results to give decision-makers evidence of what our members want so that meaningful changes are made to the uniform and uniform policies.”

Zac said he hoped the work would improve the quality of uniforms and even save Forces money in the long run.

“It appears to be a postcode lottery at the moment,” he said.

“There isn’t one route to buying uniform, which means potentially different standards of uniform across the service.

“We want consistency with police uniform, with the highest minimum standards and to get rid of the postcode lottery.

“We want a uniform that is environmentally friendly and that has been ethically sourced.

“And we believe that there are future opportunities with procurement of uniform and buying power."

The link to the survey has been sent to members' inboxes. If you have any queries, please contact impactofuniform@gmail.com or the PFEW research team on researchanddatacollection@polfed.org

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