New "more youthful" uniform for Portugal’s Public Security Police (Polícia de Segurança Pública) will cost €6 million a year.
In the face of severe cuts to all public services in Portugal, smart new uniforms in sky blue that have been designed to make the wearer look "more youthful," will cost € 6 million per year as the current dark blue uniform is phased out.
The new PSP uniforms will start to be seen in the streets from early 2015. The idea was to give a more youthful look to the police force which until now has been in dark uniforms that look rather too military for design consultants.
Police Commissioner Joao Moura heads up the PSP’s public relations function and helped launch the new image at police HQ today.
PSP patrol cars are also to have new livery, again in sky blue with stripes on a white background.
The change of image for the PSP, or the creation of a “super brand" as the event was referred to at the launch, will be done in a phased manner from January 2015 and take three years to roll out.
This will cost €6 million a year but this will be "a budget without additional costs for the police officers," according to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Miguel Macedo who is relying on the taxpayer to fund the style change.
For a year the psychologist and image consultant Alexandra Carvalho worked on this rebranding project. "I chose cyan because it is easier to use on all types of fabric and because it withstands several washings."
From January 2015 a new, “more athletic silhouette" will be on the streets, paid for by Portugal's hard-pressed taxpayers.
