£150k uniform purchase means long-term saving

Thursday 8th October 2009, 2:29PM BST.

Sergeant Barry Grief in the new uniform for local officers, which now matches that worn by their counterparts in the south-west of the UK. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0851941)

MORE than £150,000 has been spent on new uniforms for Guernsey’s police.

But Chief Inspector Phil Falla said the new clothing was practical and would save the force money in the long run.

It used to cost £1,028 to kit out a male officer and that has now dropped to £984.

‘We now wear the same uniform as officers in the south-west,’ said Mr Falla. ‘We can buy this in bulk and this is saving money.’

The new uniform includes cotton trousers, fleeces to replace jumpers and shorter jackets.

Sergeant Barry Grief said small changes had made a big difference.

‘It is lighter than the old uniform,’ he said. ‘It may not seem like much, but when officers have to wear body armour for eight-hour shifts during the summer it helps.’

Police trousers used to be dry-clean only, but the new kit is machine washable. The jackets have been shortened to waist height and have reflective strips.

‘The longer coat meant it had to be opened to get at the utility belt, which wasn’t practical,’ said Sergeant Grief.

‘Also, by having reflective strips it means we can wear it on patrol as opposed to the yellow reflective jackets.’

The utility belt kits have also been modernised.

To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.

1
Not fooled

October 10, 2009 at 10:39 pm

Some simple maths for Chief Inspector Falla:

£1028-£984 = a saving of £44 per new officer.

£150,000/£44 = 3409.

That means the force will need to have recruited 3409 new officers JUST TO BREAK EVEN. The force has around 160 officers currently. Therefore, even if they sacked every officer and took new people on every year, it would take 21 years JUST TO BREAK EVEN. As it is, the turn over is no more than 12 officers per year, meaning that at best, it will take the force 284 years JUST TO BREAK EVEN. My god, and to think the comment about saving in the long run came from a senior manager in the force. They should be called to account for this extravagant waste of public funds.

Report abuse
2
Stephen John

October 11, 2009 at 7:15 am

I read this as money spent on new uniforms with new styles for all existing officers.

Whilst the excuses (sorry reasons) for the expenditure are understandable, is the expenditure really necessary when the States finances are slightly wonky?

Could they have put up with the old style uniform, even if that meant not being as stylish as those in the South West?

Or are the existing uniformss so knackered that they have to be replaced now?

Report abuse
3
bcb

October 11, 2009 at 9:58 am

Not fooled
Thats got to be about the worst example of accounting i`ve seen.
They will have to buy new uniforms at some point and it`s not an extra £150,000, thats the total which is less than the old ones. Unless you think they will be wearing the existing ones for the next 284 years? then of course you would be right.

160 x £1,028 = 164,480
160 x £984 = 157,440
£164,480 – £157,440 = £7,040

Things dont look so bad now do they?. So Mr Falla is actually right then.

Report abuse
4
Ray

October 11, 2009 at 10:37 am

Not Fooled and Stephen John
I read this as somewhere between your two comments.

I would think that this new gear will be held in stock a) for new recruits
and b)as replacements through normal wear and tear every couple of years for the present members of the force

Don’t forget that normal wear and tear for a Police Officer can include rolling around on the ground every Friday and Saturday night with the local drunks,dealing with the aftermath of some idiot’s stupid driving or wading into the sea to resolve the odd fake suicide attempt

Report abuse
5
Stephen John

October 11, 2009 at 1:52 pm

Ray

I did wonder, but thought they would not want some officers dressed in “old” uniforms and others in “new”.

Report abuse