Bobbies to Lose Helmets

VPD officers were relieved to finally give up their helmets in 1925, when the Vancouver Police Commission voted to replace them with caps. Helmets, the traditional headgear of the British Police, were known to be uncomfortable and 95% of the Policemen’s Union called for them to be replaced.

Police Commission Adopts Caps as Future Headgear

Helmets – traditional head gear of the British police will become a relic of the past in Vancouver according to a unanimous decision of the Vancouver Police Commission today.

Acting upon the often repeated request of 95 per cent of the Policemen’s Union the commissioners agreed that caps should be introduced as the uniform headgear of the force next year. Provision for the change will be made in the 1926 estimates.

The request of the men was based on the discomfort caused by the wearing of the helmets and also on the fact that the helmet is gradually being discarded by other cities as part of the police uniform.

Chief H. W. Long said he personally favored the helmet, but was willing to withdraw any personal views if the commissioners considered the caps would look as well as the helmets. He pointed out that the caps were not good in rainy weather, as they failed to keep rain from going down the back of a man’s neck. This would have to be overcome by the wearing of a waterproof cap cover hanging down to protect the shoulders in wet weather, he said. A new police badge, bearing the City of Vancouver crest will be worn on the new caps.

 

(Clipped from The Vancouver Sun – November 12, 1925, page 1)