Pittsburgh Police hats with checkered bands, which are dark navy blue and gold in color, popularly known as the "Sillitoe Tartan" and named after its originator, Percy J. Sillitoe, Chief Constable of Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1930s. While the checkered band is a common police symbol in the United Kingdom, Australia and some European countries, the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Sheriff's Police, the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police are the only police forces in the United States that have adopted it as part of their uniforms. As recently as July 1930, police were required to wear
Police car junction of Main and Exchange streets. Ford introduced the Ford flathead V-8 in its Model B, as the first mass-marketed V8 car in 1932. In the 1940s, major American car makers began to manufacture specialized police cars. In some areas of the world, the police car has become more widely used than police officers "walking the beat". Placing officers in vehicles also allows them to carry more equipment, such as automated external defibrillators for people in cardiac arrest or road cones for traffic obstructions, and allows for more immediate transport of suspects to holding facilities. Vehicles also allow for the