Garda Uniform

source

Hi all,

I was just wondering exactly what can be done with the garda uniform to make it more practical but keep it looking smart, should we follow the NYPD model with turtle neck fleeces, combat pants....loose the hat for everyday use, bring in a beanie type hat for cold weather????

What can be done in order to make it better for those who have to wear it on the street day in day out.

qz

Caps with little propellors on top for lifting the Gardaí above the normal eyeline level thus increasing surveillance areas.

eroo

Definitely,combat pants I think would suit ye more...and how do ye fing the shoes for running,day to day etc?

Dave!

I always wondered what the hat was for, surely it would be a bit impractical, might fall off, etc., and the best I can come up with is that it gives the Garda a little bit of extra height, thereby increasing their 'presence', and making them appear more authorative and domineering. Am I way off?

biko

Military style uniforms (black with combat boots/beret) has been shown to provoke people unnecessary. That type uniform is designed to be intimidating and should only be used by special assignment police like ERU.

See below how the uniforms are similar. Swedish police are actually changing their uniforms to be less aggressive.

theAwakening

the polo necks are a must. surely they'll come in soon. The most annoying thing with the garda uniform is getting a re-issue of anything. Typical irish thing of course! The NYPD uniform is excellent, but like I said, we're irish!

Steyr

Now if these were our boys.........sh1t hot!

FlutterinBantam

DaveMcG wrote: »

I always wondered what the hat was for, surely it would be a bit impractical, might fall off, etc., and the best I can come up with is that it gives the Garda a little bit of extra height, thereby increasing their 'presence', and making them appear more authorative and domineering. Am I way off?

Not really. Its there for a reason. if you were walking down O'connell or Grafton St and need a Garda urgently,you look up and down in the crowds,the hat is what distinguishes them from the rest of the crowd at eye level.

Should do something with it though, looks very heavy and cumbersome.

source

eroo wrote: »

Definitely,combat pants I think would suit ye more...and how do ye fing the shoes for running,day to day etc?

Actually eroo, we just got new haix boots, very light and really really comfortable. they're a million miles away from the chunky "jolly" boots we got at the start.

dfbfirerescue

as usual the people in various offices decide what frontline staff wear.. asme in dfb.. should be asking the members what is practical and professional looking...

eroo

foinse wrote: »

Actually eroo, we just got new haix boots, very light and really really comfortable. they're a million miles away from the chunky "jolly" boots we got at the start.

Any pics of the model of boot?

Thats good to hear,my school shoes look similiar to the ones ye used to use...and lets just say I find if I ever have to run somewhere with my school shoes on,it really is not comfortable....at all..

source

eroo wrote: »

Any pics of the model of boot?

Thats good to hear,my school shoes look similiar to the ones ye used to use...and lets just say I find if I ever have to run somewhere with my school shoes on,it really is not comfortable....at all..

here's one from the haix site

eroo

foinse wrote: »

here's one from the haix site

Thank you kindly Mr.Foinse!
How do you find them?

remmurts

Haix boots are being issued nowadays??? I'm impressed!!! In fact, I'm gobsmacked!!!

Does this mean the "Boot Allowance" is no more?

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remmurts wrote: »

Haix boots are being issued nowadays??? I'm impressed!!! In fact, I'm gobsmacked!!!

Does this mean the "Boot Allowance" is no more?

isn't that for the upkeep of the boots??

eroo....yeah they're great compared to the jolly boots we had, much more comfortable, it feels like you're wearing a runner when you have them on they're that light. i for one love them,

TheNog

The Haix boots are great, why the other night I caught a fella during a burglary and I can honestly say I caught him 3.2 seconds quicker with my new Haix than I would have had with my old second hand Neil Armstrong moon boots.


The above is scientific fact -
The fact that he was running blind in the pitch darkness, through very long grass and his trousers was falling down around his ankles wasn't calculated into the scientific equation.

TheNog

biko wrote: »

Military style uniforms (black with combat boots/beret) has been shown to provoke people unnecessary. That type uniform is designed to be intimidating and should only be used by special assignment police like ERU.

See below how the uniforms are similar. Swedish police are actually changing their uniforms to be less aggressive.

TBH I don't see how your current uniform is that different from the Swedish one. We have similar boots, a utility belt and our jacket is equally bulky. The only difference is the polo neck shirt, which we could do with, and the combats which don't look too shabby at all.

The EMTs have combats, don't they? The combats are useful while I think still llook impressive.

-aurora

i think the gardai should loose the shirt and swap it for a bdu style shirt. that and bdu trousers as stated above.
I also think the gardai look alot more professional now with their stab vests

Hagar

The Gendarmes in here in France wear military type uniforms. In fairness they are a branch of the Army.

Also I have never seen a Gendarme wearing a stab vest.
Maybe that's because they wear an Mod 92G 9mm pistol on their belt.
There's no future in trying to stab an armed man.;)
Also they travel in groups of three.
Three armed men are much more formidable than a pair of unarmed men.

cushtac

Hagar wrote: »

Also I have never seen a Gendarme wearing a stab vest.

Police Nationale wear a vest under the shirt, I'd say the Gendarmerie do the same.

Hagar

Not under their polo shirts they don't and certainly not in the heat of the summer down here.

cushtac

Hagar wrote: »

Not under their polo shirts they don't and certainly not in the heat of the summer down here.

Then how do the Police Nationale manage to wear their vests in the same weather?

Hagar

No idea. I'm just telling you what I see everyday. I live close to a Gendarmerie so I see a lot of comings and goings. I've never seen the Police Municipal wearing them either. Perhaps it's a PR thing, I live in a very touristy area near St Tropez, they may not wish to make the visitors feel uneasy or think "If the cops can't walk the streets without a vest maybe I should holiday elsewhere"

Dave!

I remember when I was in Barcelona there was a load of police around the place, and what I thought was strange was that they all (pretty much without exception, and I saw no less than 20) had shaved, I guess 'high and tight', hair. They had berets on too.

Have to say, it looked pretty sweet! I'm sure quite intimidating though, if they stop you! They seemed pretty pleasant though.

I've been trying to find pictures to confirm they were just normal Catalan police, but can't find any like I described.

source

DaveMcG wrote: »

I remember when I was in Barcelona there was a load of police around the place, and what I thought was strange was that they all (pretty much without exception, and I saw no less than 20) had shaved, I guess 'high and tight', hair. They had berets on too.

Have to say, it looked pretty sweet! I'm sure quite intimidating though, if they stop you! They seemed pretty pleasant though.

I've been trying to find pictures to confirm they were just normal Catalan police, but can't find any like I described.

like this?

looks like he's set up for a riot situation but you can see the beret

Eru

Hagar wrote: »

No idea. I'm just telling you what I see everyday. I live close to a Gendarmerie so I see a lot of comings and goings. I've never seen the Police Municipal wearing them either. Perhaps it's a PR thing, I live in a very touristy area near St Tropez, they may not wish to make the visitors feel uneasy or think "If the cops can't walk the streets without a vest maybe I should holiday elsewhere"

Gendarmes / Guardia civil / Caribiniari all wear combat gear as they are military police. They also have formal uniforms which they do wear out and about. If the Italian, Spanish, Brazilian and US wear vests underneath I see no reason why French couldnt.

Municipal / Policia local are council police. A lot dont have guns either. they are not for crime fighting but dealing with council matters such as parking. They are, with respect, traffic wardens.

Home nations are unique in that our police are simple 'police' and deal with everything.

Hagar

Gendarmes wear navy blue combat style trousers over magnum type boots, they do not wear military type combat jackets. None of their uniforms are camouflaged. They use several types of jackets typically bomber jackets but also longer length anorak type for colder / wet weather. The guys on bikes wear riding breeches with knee high riding boots. Sometimes ordinary Gendarmes on traffic duty can be seen wearing these boots also.

I've never said they couldn't wear vests I'm just stating that I have never
seen one being worn in 3 years and I live close to a Gendarmerie.

Technically the Gendarmerie is nor longer under the Military as an organization but paradoxically the Gendarmes themselves are still military personnel. I suppose the individuals have contracts of employment that can't be varied.

I've never seen Police Municipale unarmed in this area but your assessment of their duties as being traffic oriented is accurate, even burglaries are the province of the Gendarmes.

msg11

foinse wrote: »

here's one from the haix site

Are safety boots only been issued this year?

source

no we had "Jolly" boots up till now, the Haix are just a replacement safety boot

msg11

foinse wrote: »

no we had "Jolly" boots up till now, the Haix are just a replacement safety boot

Ah thank god for that, was under the impression that you were just wearing shoes. Would not do much use if a car was to run over a foot.

(although be advised it is not good practise to see if the boot can do it)

Also, can I ask, are the caps steel or plastic(fibreglass) ?

TheNog

msg11 wrote: »

Would not do much use if a car was to run over a foot.

(although be advised it is not good practise to see if the boot can do it)

LOL most members don't do it to see if the boot can do it but usually it happens when the driver is not paying attention to where they are going!!!!!!!!!

Eru

Hagar wrote: »

Gendarmes wear navy blue combat style trousers over magnum type boots, they do not wear military type combat jackets. None of their uniforms are camouflaged. They use several types of jackets typically bomber jackets but also longer length anorak type for colder / wet weather. The guys on bikes wear riding breeches with knee high riding boots. Sometimes ordinary Gendarmes on traffic duty can be seen wearing these boots also.

I've never said they couldn't wear vests I'm just stating that I have never
seen one being worn in 3 years and I live close to a Gendarmerie.

Technically the Gendarmerie is nor longer under the Military as an organization but paradoxically the Gendarmes themselves are still military personnel. I suppose the individuals have contracts of employment that can't be varied.

I've never seen Police Municipale unarmed in this area but your assessment of their duties as being traffic oriented is accurate, even burglaries are the province of the Gendarmes.

Hagar,
I was refering more to Italian and Spanish local police when I spoke about guns.

IN regards to uniform, what has camouflage got to do with anything? I said combat gear. SWAT wear combat gear but its black or navy. Heres a picture to try and show the difference between the combat / operational uniform and the formal uniform from the Caribinari (Spelling???) in Italy.

I have a pic, hopefully it will work.

cushtac

Here's a pic of two Gendarmes wearing overt armour:



Here's a pic of the latest Police Nationale uniform, it shows a pic of their covert vest:

Hagar

Nice pics, thanks Cushtac.

I just mentioned that none of the uniforms were camouflaged for the benefit of people who might be misled by the military status of the Gendarmarie.

shakin

the garda uniform does look quite cumbersome and restraining, i think the new boots with trousers(not quite military combats) but with function pockets and hard wearing that also allow room to manouver.

as for the shirts, well again the seem impractical and the polo neck idea seems popular here, and i like it too with perhaps a tactical/stab vest over that as standard(vest better fitted than the cheap one size fits all that they have now)

finally the hat, well i think the hat is kinda cool but is probably impractical,having said that i think baseball caps look pretty unprofessional i dont know why, perhaps a beret would be too military-esque. but a beanie would look unprofessional too so for that one i d=say leave it as it is until a better replacement found

btw im not a garda,have never wore a garda uniform nor have i any experience in uniforms, just an opinion from a keen observer:)

TheNog

shakin wrote: »

perhaps a tactical/stab vest over that as standard(vest better fitted than the cheap one size fits all that they have now)

The vests are not one size fits all. Each guard was specifically fitted with their own vest. They way the vests are made I suppose allows the member to grow (u know what i mean) over time in the vest

fluffyduffy

This may sound stupid, but why are the anti-stab vests worn over the uniform??

If someone trys to stab a Garda, they can see where the Garda is unprotected.

BTW, I am not a Garda.

TheNog

All the major organs are protected (except the vip male organ:D) so any attempt to attack the torso would have to be deliberate and done with precision. This would take longer to do than a straight forward stab therefore giving the guard a little more time for evasive action.

source

fluffyduffy wrote: »

This may sound stupid, but why are the anti-stab vests worn over the uniform??

If someone trys to stab a Garda, they can see where the Garda is unprotected.

BTW, I am not a Garda.

It's cos they're more comfortable worn over the fleece and under the jacket (if worn)

shakin

TheNog wrote: »

The vests are not one size fits all. Each guard was specifically fitted with their own vest. They way the vests are made I suppose allows the member to grow (u know what i mean) over time in the vest

a vest for life? is it hard to get one re-issued?

TheNog

shakin wrote: »

a vest for life? is it hard to get one re-issued?

No its not for life. You can get a new one but have to write a report on why you need it.

Potential-Monke

Personally, i find the uniform grand. People are complaining that teh stab vest is too cumbersome and awkward, but from what i've seen the majority of people who say this are not wearing them properly. If you put it on nice and tight, like they did when you got fitted, they're fine! They do go up when you sit down mind, and i sometimes forget i'm wearing a seatbelt and go to get out of the car...

The pants are grand, professional and comfortable, althrough they can be quite heavy in the hot weather. Shirts seems fine too. Boots (Jolly) are qutie comfortable, but as said above quite heavy also, looking forward to the new ones. Fleece is brilliant, and the patrol jacket is equally as good. And i think the hat should stay the way it is, very professional and obvious (whenever it's worn anyway...)

Eru

foinse wrote: »

It's cos they're more comfortable worn over the fleece and under the jacket (if worn)

I find it terrible under the jacket. They are not designed to be worn under any part of the uniform, its just management being idiots as per usual!

FGR

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

I find it terrible under the jacket. They are not designed to be worn under any part of the uniform, its just management being idiots as per usual!

Any word on when the Traffic-Corps style hi vis will be issued?

It was directed for issue on November 07 but haven't heard a thing since then.

Eru

ForegoneReality wrote: »

Any word on when the Traffic-Corps style hi vis will be issued?

It was directed for issue on November 07 but haven't heard a thing since then.

I havent heard anything about it anyway, only ones I have seen are the original trial ones but yeah, a good move and far better.

ScubaDave

Are they issuing the traffic style hi vis to the regular?

Cool!

FGR

That's the plan. I'm unsure as to the current situation in your division but my division (which shall remain undisclosed ) will also be receiving a new full issue of uniform - primarily patrol jacket, fleece, belt, ties, cap and standard hi-vis sometime this year.

It makes sense being that it's around the two year mark (give or take) since we've been issued this 'new' uniform.

They've also stated that the quality of all of these articles will be drastically improved over the first issue.

Hopefully this is also true. The trousers issued with the tunic are second to none and compared to the regular trousers these are excellent.

That said, however.. I wouldn't be surprised if we'll have to wait another two years for all of the above.

Has anyone heard of the system the Ambulance Service uses? From what I've been told it's a points-based system where you're allocated a certain number of points and are required to fill out a form; you can 'order' items of uniform and equipment that you need. For example you could have 500 points and order four pairs of trousers at 100 points each and a formal cap at 100 points.

Very clever and far more efficient as it's done on an annual basis.

/open to correction on all of the above.

We need a connection with someone at Stores..

It's my two cents, at least.

rossi1093

i am with the dfb and we work our uniform issue on a points system. as an ex-garda i have seen how both systems work. the points system works much better. for example if you have 100 points for your yearly issue a tshirt would be 5 points, trousers 5 points, socks 5 points etc etc. it is then up to you how to use your 100 points.
you can use your points to get items of uniform which you would use more than others. as you are the one wearing the uniform it makes sense that you will know exactly what you need.

Eru

rossi1093 wrote: »

i am with the dfb and we work our uniform issue on a points system. as an ex-garda i have seen how both systems work. the points system works much better. for example if you have 100 points for your yearly issue a tshirt would be 5 points, trousers 5 points, socks 5 points etc etc. it is then up to you how to use your 100 points.
you can use your points to get items of uniform which you would use more than others. as you are the one wearing the uniform it makes sense that you will know exactly what you need.

The NYPD works on a similar basis except they just have a standard amount and you can spend it how you wish. Far simpler, ours has something to do with tracking uniform items. Heard before it dates back to original days when tthe IRA were stealing uniforms, etc but I dont see why a points / cash allowance system wouldnt work nprovided stores actually had the items in stock which thtey do not.

Are DFB any closer to stab vests? I understood from a few lads that it was being mentioned.

rossi1093

the dfb won't be getting stab vests anytime in the near future. the issue came up when a few of the lads got attacked over the last couple of years but they are impractical in relation to the work that we do.