A survey questioning Garda members on uniform changes has found that the majority back the recent introduction of baseball caps to their uniforms.

However, some officers have stated that they feel the caps reduce authority and their physical stature.

Former Garda assistant Commissioner Doctor Pat Leahy told The Pat Kenny Show that he is not a fan of the change.

New Garda uniform. Image via An Garda Síochána Facebook.

“Research clearly indicates that clothing has a powerful impact on how people are perceived, and this holds for the police as well,” he said.

“Even slight changes or alterations affect how citizens perceive their police officers.

“For me, I think it devalues the uniform – again, look, this is a personal opinion.

“I think it devalues the uniform, and it just adds to the militaristic style that we seem to have been pursuing over the last number of years.”

European imitation

Dr Leahy said he sees this as an imitation of a European style of “semi-military” police uniforms that have been developed over the last few decades.

“We have to be very careful about what we follow in Europe because Europe has a very paramilitary style police force,” he said.

“If you look at the likes of France or Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Poland – they're all semi-military, which means they can serve as police today but, if necessary, they can serve in a military capacity tomorrow.

“So, the police in Europe very much have a military style uniform, whereas traditionally we don’t, we used to follow the UK model.”

Belgian police. Image: Photononstop / Alamy. 10 December 2019

According to Dr Leahy, the new uniforms may feel more comfortable for officers, but that they could negatively affect public perceptions of Gardaí.

“There’s a reassurance, there’s a security, there’s an authority element to it,” he said.

“So, this move towards a militaristic one, it might be practical, and it might feel better for the average police officer on the ground, but we have to be very much aware of how it affects how we’re perceived by the public.

“I would suggest at the moment, we have devalued the uniform somewhat over the last number of years, and that does affect perception.”

Dr Leahy said we need to be “careful how we proceed with this”.

Main image: New Garda uniform. Image via An Garda Síochána Facebook.