Police Equipment

Police Equipment, Gear, and Supplies

Welcome to East Hampton Police.com. Our site is deeply committed to bringing you the very best and most current information on police equipment, police gear, and police supplies. So whether you’re an officer yourself, or just an interested party this site is for you. Our mission is to inform and enlighten and if you have any questions or suggestions on how we can do our job better please let us know.

Before organized police forces emerged in 1829, cities were generally patrolled by citizen watchman. These men sometimes had badges but only wore their normal clothes. London was the first city to institute an organized, uniformed police force. With the intent of distinguishing themselves from the military men, they donned dark blue tailed coats. These coats had high collars, to protect against garroting, and white stripes down the sleeves. They also wore a reinforced top-hat which could be used as a step or to peer over walls. This was the very first recorded police equipment and uniform. These early officers basic police gear kit consisted of a rattle, to alert other policemen nearby, and a truncheon. A stock of fifty flint-lock pistols was available for emergencies.

About ten years later, standard police equipment had changed by removing the tails of their coats, and changing to the traditional pillbox hat, most usually associated with the English police force. By this time, police supplies also included handcuffs and the flint-lock pistols had been replaced with early revolvers. Police gear continued to evolve and change with the times and needs of the police force but the dark blue remained.

Due to the popularity of the British Police forces uniform, other countries began adopting similar uniforms for their own forces. Naturally, these uniforms were unique but many of them copied the color scheme of dark blue or black. The reason police supplies are typically in dark colors is psychological. Dark colors imply authority and power to great effect. Some countries and provinces away from industrialized cities will use brown or green for their uniforms, but it will always be a dark brown or green.

During the 1960’s, in the U.S. the New York City police force had very dark blue uniforms. But as the Civil Rights Movement pushed forward, the public began to fear police brutality against non-violent protesters. In order to help their public image, the NYPD changed their uniforms to a much lighter blue. Although seemingly insignificant, studies showed that the tactic had worked quite well. The uniforms remained this way until after 9/11, when the public was hungering for a more authoritative figure.

In addition to the refinement of the police uniform itself, there were also many technological improvements that came to redefine modern police forces. Although U.S. police officers still carry firearms, most of the world’s police organizations no longer do. Even in America, police officers still employ a wide variety of non-lethal weapons to be used in favor of more lethal devices. Such devices include tasers, pepper-spray, and the ever popular nightstick. Modern police officers also carry radios, handcuffs, zip-ties, knives, and a high-powered flashlight. These are but a few of the devices helping modern law enforcement today.

To learn more about these devices and many others, dive deeper into this site where we have all sorts of resources. Once again, don’t hesitate to send us your questions, comments, and suggestions. We are also trying to refine our site to reflect your needs. Enjoy.

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Police Equipment, Gear, and Supplies

Welcome to East Hampton Police.com. Our site is deeply committed to bringing you the very best and most current information on police equipment, police gear, and police supplies. So whether you’re an officer yourself, or just an interested party this site is for you. Our mission is to inform and enlighten and if you have any questions or suggestions on how we can do our job better please let us know.

Before organized police forces emerged in 1829, cities were generally patrolled by citizen watchman. These men sometimes had badges but only wore their normal clothes. London was the first city to institute an organized, uniformed police force. With the intent of distinguishing themselves from the military men, they donned dark blue tailed coats. These coats had high collars, to protect against garroting, and white stripes down the sleeves. They also wore a reinforced top-hat which could be used as a step or to peer over walls. This was the very first recorded police equipment and uniform. These early officers basic police gear kit consisted of a rattle, to alert other policemen nearby, and a truncheon. A stock of fifty flint-lock pistols was available for emergencies.

About ten years later, standard police equipment had changed by removing the tails of their coats, and changing to the traditional pillbox hat, most usually associated with the English police force. By this time, police supplies also included handcuffs and the flint-lock pistols had been replaced with early revolvers. Police gear continued to evolve and change with the times and needs of the police force but the dark blue remained.

Due to the popularity of the British Police forces uniform, other countries began adopting similar uniforms for their own forces. Naturally, these uniforms were unique but many of them copied the color scheme of dark blue or black. The reason police supplies are typically in dark colors is psychological. Dark colors imply authority and power to great effect. Some countries and provinces away from industrialized cities will use brown or green for their uniforms, but it will always be a dark brown or green.

During the 1960’s, in the U.S. the New York City police force had very dark blue uniforms. But as the Civil Rights Movement pushed forward, the public began to fear police brutality against non-violent protesters. In order to help their public image, the NYPD changed their uniforms to a much lighter blue. Although seemingly insignificant, studies showed that the tactic had worked quite well. The uniforms remained this way until after 9/11, when the public was hungering for a more authoritative figure.

In addition to the refinement of the police uniform itself, there were also many technological improvements that came to redefine modern police forces. Although U.S. police officers still carry firearms, most of the world’s police organizations no longer do. Even in America, police officers still employ a wide variety of non-lethal weapons to be used in favor of more lethal devices. Such devices include tasers, pepper-spray, and the ever popular nightstick. Modern police officers also carry radios, handcuffs, zip-ties, knives, and a high-powered flashlight. These are but a few of the devices helping modern law enforcement today.

To learn more about these devices and many others, dive deeper into this site where we have all sorts of resources. Once again, don’t hesitate to send us your questions, comments, and suggestions. We are also trying to refine our site to reflect your needs. Enjoy.