APPENDIX 1
POLICE GUIDANCE TO MANUFACTURERS AND RETAILERS OF EQUINE CLOTHING THAT CLOSELY
RESEMBLES POLICE UNIFORM
This guidance is provided in response to a number of
concerns and complaints that have been raised against
horse riders who have been mistaken to be police
officers as a result of the clothing worn by them or their
horses. In particular, issues have arisen through
individuals wearing high visibility clothing, including
jackets, horse sheets and banding for helmets.
Q: What is the legal position around owning/wearing clothing that looks like police uniform?
Section 90 of the Police Act 1996 (‘the Act’) provides the legal base for considering this issue and it
defines the following offences:
1) Any person who with intent to deceive impersonates a member of a police force or
special constable, or makes any statement or does any act calculated falsely to
suggest that he is such a member or constable, shall be guilty of an offence and liable
on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a
fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.
2) Any person who, not being a constable, wears any article of police uniform in
circumstances where it gives him an appearance so nearly resembling that of a
member of a police force as to be calculated to deceive shall be guilty of an offence
and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard
scale.
3) Any person who, not being a member of a police force or special constable, has in his
possession any article of police uniform shall, unless he proves that he obtained
possession of that article lawfully and has possession of it for a lawful purpose, be
guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1
on the standard scale.
4) In this section - “article of police uniform” means any article of uniform or any
distinctive badge or mark or document of identification usually issued to members of
police forces or special constables, or anything having the appearance of such an
article, badge, mark or document
As can be seen, this section of the Act covers a wide range of offences relevant to clothing that
closely resembles police uniform. It creates offences for both possession of such an article of
clothing (Subsection 3), as well as an offence in respect of wearing the apparel (Subsection 2).
Subsection 1 specifically relates to the intention of an individual to deceive and creates an offence
in respect of an act or statement made by him/her which is designed to suggest that he/she is a
member of a police force.
For the avoidance of doubt, wearing clothing resembling police uniform is capable of satisfying the
definition of ‘an act’ for the purposes of Section 1. The main difference between Subsection 1 and
the others is that it is concerned with deception, or intent to deceive, which is why the maximum
penalty is 6 months imprisonment. It is of note that there does not have to be any intention to
profit from this deception; simply doing an act intended to deceive (such a raising one’s hand to
direct traffic as though a police officer) could fulfill the requirements of this offence.
Q: Does the ‘article of police uniform’ only apply to the rider or can any
item worn by the horse also be considered?
The simple answer is that it would be an objective decision for an officer
to make on the basis of what is presented to him/her. The question under
consideration is this – ‘Does the overall image of the horse and rider
taken together give the impression of that person being a police officer?’
The most direct comparison is with a person in plain clothes driving a car
that was adapted to look like a police vehicle. Incidents comparable to
this recently resulted in successful convictions against the individuals
concerned.
Q: What does an ‘article of police uniform’ look like?
Police officers are issued with a variety of uniform clothing and equipment that reflects the varied
nature of their profession. There is no ‘national police uniform’, as each police force or
constabulary decides exactly what to issue – for example, some have retained the traditional look
of white shirts and ties, whilst others have adopted black shirts and baseball caps. The key item
under consideration is police high visibility clothing and whilst variations in the exact design exist,
there are certain characteristics that are common, namely:
• Wording - The word ‘POLICE’ in large capital letters on a contrasting background
printed prominently on the rear of the jacket
• Banding - The prominent use of chequered banding, primarily blue and silver (albeit
one force uses red and silver)
• Colour – All police forces have adopted yellow material with reflective banding as the
standard
The incorporation of the above characteristics ought to be avoided by manufacturers of both
existing and future ranges to ensure that they and their customers do not infringe the Act.
Q: Do any one of these characteristics alone create a risk of breaching legislation?
Again, this will depend upon individual circumstances and will only ultimately be decided by a
criminal court through a prosecution. That notwithstanding, the following are presented for
consideration:
• Wording – the use of anything that resembles the word ‘POLICE’ displayed
prominently on clothing or a piece of equipment will retain a high risk of offending
• Banding – the prominent use of blue/silver and red/silver banding on the rider or the
horse will retain a similar risk
• Colour – a yellow jacket alone will have a negligible breach but when combined with
the other characteristics, the risk will increase significantly; conversely, a change to
any other colour, would negate any risk
Q: Who should I contact for further information?
This information sheet has been provided by Assistant Chief Constable Rod Hansen, National Lead
for Mounted Policing. Further information can be obtained from Supt Chris Weigold at
[email protected]