EA officers win back their stripes
EA officers wearing the recently revived insignia in 2003 – photo: Waterway Images
STRIPES: The Environment Agency (EA) has reintroduced merchant navy insignia for its enforcement patrols on the River Thames to help them to be more recognisable to boaters and other river users, writes Harry Arnold.
The stripes will also, says the EA, improve their effectiveness as a deterrent to unruly or illegal behaviour.
The original merchant navy insignia - displayed on epaulettes worn on the shoulders of employees’ uniforms - was replaced in 2007 by a more modern version which incorporated the EA’s logo, with elements of the old Thames Conservancy branding.
Although there was no marked increase in incidents on the river as a result of the previous insignia change, the enforcement team felt strongly that the old insignia would have been helpful in a number of tense and occasionally hostile situations.
The revived insignia uses combinations of stripes to identify specific roles and will be worn by EA boatmen, technical officers and waterways team leaders. Insignia will be: boatmen - one stripe, technical officer - one and a half stripes, team leader - two stripes, assistant harbour master – three stripes and harbourmaster– four stripes.
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