Headgear
A PCSO's headgear is normally a black formal peaked cap for men and a black bowler for women, like Constables. Headgear may or may not display the force crest, some have a metal shield, usually blue, stating "COMMUNITY SUPPORT OFFICER" followed below with the name of the wearers respective force in smaller letters. Some newer versions of such shields have the wearers respective force crest printed on them The band on the hat is a silver reflective band with blue edging, a plain blue band or a black and white sillitoe tartan chequered band.
Male PCSO's do not wear custodian helmets like their male counterparts,potentially leaving them with less protection for their head. Female officers bowler hats 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 forces tradition of red detailing, such as a red band and 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 (Heddlu Gogledd Cymru) PCSO's wear black baseball caps with a blue band with "POLICE SUPPORT" written in both English and Welsh. They are the only force to issue baseball caps as standard headgear, most favour custodian helmets and Flat peak cap.
Surrey Police and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) give their Traffic PCSOs wo 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.
Read more about this topic: Police Community Support Officer, Presentation