The police officer

Policemen then looked very different from today. In the image we see a photo from 1903 of two policemen wearing policemen's uniforms from 1879. Johanna and Matje from the earlier stories were arrested by people wearing these clothes. The uniforms, truncheons, and sabers make them look almost like soldiers. The double row of buttons on the jacket and the epaulets, decoration on the shoulders, are undoubtedly reminiscent of uniforms of the armed forces. Different ranks were recognized by the decorations on the uniform, as is visible on the man on the right in the picture.

The police not only used weapons but also used a whistle to signal their presence. From the 20th century onwards, the police also used a toggle chain, the predecessor of handcuffs, which they attached to the wrists of the suspect . This object fell into disuse because it often caused injuries to the detainees. In the photograph, the officers wear a black helmet with decorations. The brush mustache seems to have been fashionable among policemen, most of whom have some form of facial hair in old photographs. At the end of the nineteenth century, Amsterdam had one of the most professional police forces in the country. Officers moved through the city on foot, horseback, and later even by bicycle. This enabled them to arrive quickly at the scene of a crime.