Standards of appearance and dress (FOI ref: 1860/26)
Request
Please provide the current force policy, instruction, or guidance that sets out the standards of appearance and dress for:
- Police officers working in plain clothes, and
- Police staff working in non‑-uniformed or plain‑-clothes roles
This includes (but is not limited to):
- Dress code or appearance standards specific to plain‑-clothes roles
- Any section within a Uniform, Dress Code, Appearance, or Professional Standards policy that applies to non‑-uniformed officers or staff
- Any locally approved guidance or annexes relating to plain‑-clothes attire
Response
We can confirm that relevant information is held by West Midlands Police. However, while the majority of the information is attached to this email, I am not required to release all of the information requested. Please find attached a redacted document.
Reasons for decision
The redacted information is exempt by virtue of the following:
Section 40(2) - Personal information
Further guidance about the relevant exemption(s) can be found here:
Freedom of information | College of Policing
Section 40(2) allows for personal data to be withheld where release would breach the third party’s data protection rights. It would be unfair to release this information where any person could be identified from the data and in this case the right to privacy outweighs any public interest in release.
Attachment
1860_26 Uniform Equipment and Appearance v2.2 - POLICY_ REDACTED.pdf