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The custodian helmet is the usual name currently applied to the helmet worn by male police officers in England and Wales (and formerly in Scotland) and certain other places around the world. It is synonymous with the 'bobby on the beat' image. ==History== The custodian helmet is the headgear traditionally worn by male police constables and sergeants while on foot patrol in England and Wales. Officers of all ranks in most forces are also issued a flat, peaked cap that is worn on mobile patrol in a vehicle. Ranks above sergeant wear the peaked cap only. It was first adopted by the London Metropolitan Police in 1863 to replace the 'stovepipe' top hat worn since 1829. In 1863, the Metropolitan Police replaced the previous uniform of white trousers, swallow-tailed coat and top hat in favour of very dark blue trousers, a more modern button up tunic and the early type of helmet which had an upturned brim at the front and a raised spine at the back, running from the bottom to the top of the helmet, which became known as the 'cockscomb'. The early Metropolitan Police helmet had a 'garter' style badge on the front of the helmet which had the officer's personal number and divisional letter in the centre, backed by a leather insert. This was surrounded by a wreath design which had the words 'Metropolitan Police' around the outside and was topped with the reigning monarch's crown. This style changed in 1875, when an early version of the brunswick star was adopted without the upturned brim seen in the previous style. There was much variety in the style of helmets during this period. The form of the helmets gradually converged with the 'foreign service' and 'home service' helmets adopted by the British army in the late-1870s. During the 1930s, the Home Office attempted to standardise the design of the helmets with the 'Home Office Pattern', after it became evident that since the Metropolitan Police had adopted it and produced their own badge, many small county and borough police forces followed suit and individually adopted their own style badges and designs, which led to many different styles and designs. Some forces adopted the helmet without any badge, others designed their own, usually with the county's arms or crest in the centre. One force adopted an Australian style bush hat and one wore a helmet constructed of straw. The 'Home Office Pattern' consisted of a helmet with the Brunswick star badge (commonly known as a 'helmet plate') which would feature the reigning monarch's cipher, with the name of the force imprinted on the plate. The top of the helmet had a 'rose top', which was a raised metal rose, largely used as an ornament to cover the ventilation hole. However, this standardisation process was largely unsuccessful, with many different designs being worn by today's police forces nationally. Internally, helmets up until the 1970s, and in certain areas the 1980s, had only a sweat band to allow it to sit correctly on the wearers head, with a single chin strap. The helmet plate and either a 'cockscomb' or 'rose top' fixed to the top of the helmet, were fitted by pressing the metal lugs attached to the badges through the helmet and then having small matchstick-size pieces of wood pushed through the lugs to secure them. Other helmet furniture included a 'ball top' and in some cases a 'spike top' During the 1970s and 1980s, before specially adapted 'riot helmets' were produced, officers were expected to conduct public order and crowd control in the standard beat duty helmet. The cork construction provided little protection to attack and hand-thrown missiles. In order to provide more protection, the construction of the helmets changed. Visually they remained the same, however instead of being constructed of cork they were now made out of a very hard wearing plastic material and covered in felt. Internally, they were padded with foam which was factory fitted into the shell of the helmet with a webbing-style harness to allow it to sit on the head in the correct manner. Also, two chin straps were added at this time, one for normal duties which was a thin leather strap and a 'public order strap' which was made of thick material and included a chin-cup to securely hold the helmet on the head. As well as these changes, helmet plates were altered so that the fixings on them were no longer lugs, but were prong-type pins which were inserted into the helmet and spread apart, so that if the helmet plate was hit by a missile, the lugs would not cause injury to the wearer. As well as in the UK, other forces currently using the custodian helmet include the States of Jersey Police, States of Guernsey Police Service, Isle of Man Constabulary, Royal Gibraltar Police, Bermuda Police. The term 'custodian' originated as a specific make of helmet used in Britain in the late-twentieth century. Because of this, 'custodian' was never an official or unofficial name for similar helmets worn in other parts of the Commonwealth. All police forces in England and Wales have their own 'helmet plates' attached to the front of the helmet, most of which feature the county's coat of arms/crest or 'EiiR' after Elizabeth II in the centre. Also, most helmet plates now feature parts with coloured enamel, such as the force name or crest. Adding enamel to helmet plates has only been done since around 1985, most forces before this had plain metal ones with no or little colour. Some forces also used 'night plates', which were usually darkened apart from the centre, and 'day plates' which were metal, in order to not give the officer away at night time. This practice had almost completely ceased by 1973. Police forces in the UK did not issue custodian helmets to Special Constables up until around 1995; however those forces retaining the helmet now issue them to all male officers. The traditional cork construction often led CID personnel to call their uniformed colleagues "woodentops". The equivalent for female officers is a 'bowler' hat, which still affords the same protection as the male custodian. Police Community Support Officers only wear peaked caps, which have a blue band on them rather than the police officer's Sillitoe Tartan to distinguish them from police officers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「custodian helmet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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