Police uniforms of the United States

Police uniforms in the United States vary widely due to the nation's tradition of highly decentralized law enforcement. Over time, however, a number of general conventions and styles have become representative of American police fashion. Police officers wear uniforms to deter crime by establishing a visible presence while on patrol, to make themselves easily identifiable to non-police officers or their colleagues who require assistance, and to quickly identify each other at crime scenes for ease of coordination.

Centralized, municipally-managed police departments were unknown in the United States prior to the 1830s. 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 advent of professional police forces in the United States foreshadowed the introduction of standardized police uniforms. 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. Nonetheless, in 1854, the New York City Police Department became the United States' first municipal police force to issue uniforms to its officers. New York City was followed, in 1858, by Boston, Chicago, and soon thereafter, other cities.

The navy blue uniforms adopted by many police departments in this early period were simply surplus United States Army uniforms from the Civil War. 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. 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. In many states this practice continued well into the following century. The Orange County, California sheriff's office, for instance, did not adopt a uniform until 1938.

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