The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced that police personnel in the country will start wearing new uniforms from Sunday.
The newly-introduced police uniforms are approved "based on HE the Minister of Interior's Decision No. 41 of 2020, issued on July 16, regarding the renewal of police uniforms and specifying the badges of military ranks for officers and other ranks, their types and how to wear them", the MoI explained.
The announcement was made during a press conference held at the Police Training Institute on Thursday. It was attended by Brigadier-General Ahmed Jaber al-Hamidi, chairman of the Committee for Renewing Police Uniforms, and Major Fahad Saeed al-Subaie, director of the Training Department at Police College and a member of the committee.
The ministry said all its employees, including officers, non-commissioned officers and personnel, will wear the new uniforms according to the specified conditions. It stressed that the renewal of uniforms is being implemented as part of a comprehensive modernisation process aimed at improving police performance. The uniforms suit the nature of work of various MoI departments and also take into account the public acceptance factor.
The MoI noted that the new uniforms were designed to give members of the police force an appearance befitting their stature and the nature of tasks assigned to them. The change process also included "choosing a unified 'theme' for the police identity to be affixed to clothes and cars", the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) added in a report.
The new uniforms have been designed while taking into consideration a combination of modern and classical styles, in harmony with the Qatari environment and reflecting its Arab legacy. The uniforms are inspired by the Qatari heritage, reflecting the "different civilisations that have succeeded in the country while adding a touch of development witnessed by Qatar", the MoI pointed out.
The Qatar police's military uniform manual classifies uniforms based on seven 'dress codes': ceremony, official, duty, field, specialised field, training and special missions. There are different summer and winter uniforms as well.
Special uniforms have been designed for Public Transport Security, Airport Security, Traffic Patrol and Stadium Security Department, as well as for female police officers.
Brigadier-General al-Hamidi said at the press conference that the committee took a scientific approach in selecting the new uniforms for the police force.
He explained, “The committee communicated with many police agencies around the world and the relevant experiences were studied to take the positive aspects and identify the negatives. After multiple meetings with experts, materials that suit the nature of the country's climate and the tasks of each department were selected.
"There were many choices regarding materials and these were experimented with on the ground in a number of departments. After positive results, the final set of uniforms was agreed upon and presented to the competent authorities for a decision.
Major al-Subaie told journalists that the amendments include updating the MoI logo on all police force uniforms as well as updating all military accessories, comprising separate pieces that are used with the uniform - such as military ranks, insignia, scope and cordon.
In a statement to QNA, Brigadier-General al-Hamidi said the choice of police uniforms came as a result of field studies of the movement and mobility mechanism according to the nature of each unit and department at the MoI, such as field uniforms that fit the nature of work at Metro stations, the Coast Guard and airport, and contain the ministry's logo. The unified logo will be registered as a patent for the MoI, distinguishing it from other types of clothing and that only the police may wear it. In the event of travelling on official missions, the uniforms will have the emblem of the State of Qatar.
Adherence to the Islamic veil, customs and traditions were taken into account while choosing the uniforms of working women at the Ministry of Interior, he noted.
Further, he said there is a unified military uniform for senior ranks, which will be used for ceremonies, accompanying delegations coming to the country and participating in major international forums, adding that the decoration and edges of the new uniform are derived from the traditional Qatari cloak, 'bisht'.
