British police officers will now wear “gender-neutral” caps in an effort to get transgenders to become police officers, the Northamptonshire Police force announced Tuesday.
The department hopes the change from the custodian helmet to “bump caps” will cause transgender people to feel more comfortable in joining the force, reports the Daily Mail.
“Not only will the new bump caps offer a better level of protection, the new headgear means that no longer will male and female officers be issued different headgear with varying safety ratings simply on the basis of gender,” the department said in a statement. “Engagement has also shown that having to choose gender-based headgear is a barrier to the non-binary transgender community joining the police service.”
Ahead of the curve: Third force rolls out new-look ‘Bump Caps’ @NorthantsPolice @NorthantsChief @NorthantsOPCC https://t.co/vc7nGBIvOW pic.twitter.com/j6nT3fFffe
— Police Professional (@PoliceP) May 10, 2017
The department also said the new caps are more affordable and the traditional helmet doesn’t offer the best protection while on the job.
“Research showed the most popular headgear among male officers was the flat cap, but it offers no protection while the traditional custodian helmet is impractical for most duties and is only fully protective when the chin strap is used,” the department added.
Other British police forces have also made the push to be more inclusive to transgender people. Cheshire and Lancashire police officers have gender neutral hats, and male and female officers with the Dyfed Powys force have the same uniforms.
Merseyside Police introduced rainbow colored police cars to fight hate crimes in the gay community. The car is supposed to remind people of the crimes gay people face as police drive by. (RELATED:Police Drive Around In Rainbow Colored Cars To Protect Gay People)
“We hope this will encourage more victims of hate crime to come forward and report incidents to the police and also further increase engagement with the public,” Assistant Chief Constable Julie Cooke said about the car and its colors.
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