Jam sandwich (police car)
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In British slang, a "jam sandwich" or "jam butty" is a police car with a red stripe applied to the side.
History
A thin amber sidestripe, fitted using fluorescent tape and vinyl sheeting, was first applied to vehicles of the East Sussex Constabulary in 1965, introduced on the reccomendation of Chief Constable George Terry. Some forces, such as the Hertfordshire Constabulary, would later introduce a blue border around the sidestripe.[1]
The term "jam sandwich" came into common use in the 1970s, as police cars changed from block colour schemes such as the blue and white "panda car" to broad fluorescent sidestriped liveries on white or grey base paint. This scheme was seen as reminiscent of jam sandwiched between two slices of white bread, hence the name. The slang was popularised on TV shows such as The Bill, The Sweeney and Minder; as well as spreading through the use of CB radio.
Almost all police vehicles in the United Kingdom today use Battenburg markings, first introduced in 1998 on the recommendation that the livery makes the vehicle easily identifiable as a police vehicle from at least 500 metres (1,600 ft), with 76% of forces adopting the markings as well as a "half battenburg" variant by 2003.[2] However, a handful of older vehicles are still marked in "jam sandwich" livery.
Metropolitan Police
The "jam sandwich" first came into use with London's Metropolitan Police in 1978, first applied on a fleet of new high-performance Rover SD1 traffic cars.[3] Marked vehicles were initially finished in base white paint with "jam sandwich" livery applied on each side, however the base colour was changed to silver from 2002 to help improve a vehicle's resale value when it was retired from police use.[4]
In November 2012, the Metropolitan Police began to replace the liveries of its marked vehicles from the 'jam sandwich' style to Battenburg markings,[5][6][7] in line with other police forces' marked police vehicles. In the Metropolitan Police Service, the term 'jam sandwich' now refers not to a car with a specific role, but to the car's livery only. Most jam sandwich-liveried vehicles are the remaining older models of police vehicles that have not yet been replaced, and public order carriers.
See also
References
- ^ Carpenter, Paddy (2016). Police Stop! Patrol and response vehicles in England and Wales. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4456-5831-5. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ "High Conspicuity Livery for Police Vehicles" (PDF). Home Office Police Science Development Branch. 2004. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ "New look for police cars". Westminster and Pimlico News. 14 July 1978. p. 41. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Gibbs, Nick (14 June 2002). "Silver lining for the Met". Evening Standard. London. p. 99. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jacobs, Luke (19 November 2012). "Met Police cars to adopt Battenburg style livery". London24. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
- ^ Davenport, Justin (19 November 2012). "Police union chokes as Battenberg replaces jam sandwich". Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
- ^ "Met Police cars to have Battenburg livery". BBC News. 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
External links
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