page_title: Police community support officer
section_title: Headgear
hierarchical_section_title: Police community support officer / Uniform and equipment / Headgear
caption_attribution_description: Scientologists peer out of the Church of Scientology London Queen Victoria Street building as police and community support officers guard the building, a lone Scientologist attempts to distribute Scientology material, and the protest is reflected in the buildings windows.
context_page_description: A police community support officer, or as written in legislation community support officer is a uniformed member of police staff in England and Wales, a role created by Section 38 of the Police Reform Act 2002, which was given Royal Assent by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 July 2002. They are non-warranted but provided with a variety of police powers and the power of a Constable in various instances by the forty-three territorial police forces in England and Wales and the British Transport Police.
  PCSOs were introduced in September 2002 and first recruited by the Metropolitan Police. The first ever PCSO on the streets of the UK was Barry Faust who left Belgravia Police Station, London at 6am on 7 September 2002 to deliver a car to an east London garage to be fixed. His shift left the station at 7am.
  Proposals for PCSOs in Northern Ireland were prevented by a budget shortfall in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, as well as fears that the introduction of uniformed and unarmed PCSOs in Northern Ireland would mean they would potentially then become a "legitimate target" in the eyes of the IRA who have attacked other civilians working for the police in Northern Ireland in the past.
context_section_description: A PCSO's headgear is normally a black formal peaked cap for men and a black bowler for women, although some forces are now opting for female PCSOs to wear the peaked cap. Headgear may or may not display the force crest, some have a metal shield, usually blue, stating "police community support officer" followed below with the name of the wearer's respective force in smaller letters. Some newer versions of such shields have the wearer's respective force crest printed on them. Most forces now simply issue the same hat badge that is issued to constables.
   The band on the hat is a silver reflective band with blue edging, a plain blue band, a chequered blue and silver band or a black and white sillitoe tartan chequered band.
  Male PCSOs wear flat, peaked caps rather than custodian helmets, which are worn by male police constables. The Metropolitan Police Authority noted in 2004 that the hats worn by male PCSOs were not rigid and 'may therefore not offer adequate protection'. Female PCSOs wear bowler hats which contain foam padding as protection.
  Some forces have unique hat designs for PCSOs which are different from the more common styles such as those worn by the City of London Police PCSOs who adhere to the force's tradition of red detailing, red banding, and a red shield. Another is Merseyside Police, whose PCSOs wear a blue band with green edging. The badge is a black cloth patch similar to the metal shield used by some other forces; North Wales Police (Welsh: Heddlu Gogledd Cymru) PCSOs wear black baseball caps with a blue band with "police support" written in both English and Welsh. They are the only force aside from Cheshire Constabulary to issue baseball caps as standard headgear; most forces use custodian helmets, peaked caps or bowler hats.
  Surrey Police and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) give their Traffic PCSOs (who are part of GMP's Road Policing Unit (RPU)) white covered caps in the same style as traffic police officers. The hat retains though the standard blue band and force crest as other PCSOs in GMP.
caption: Two PCSOs (right) of the City of London Police with two Police Constables keeping order during a protest outside The Church of Scientology in London. Note the distinctive unique red bands and badging on the PCSOs headgear.
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