'The Bill' costumes bought by London police to fight crime

London's Metropolitan police force have quietly snapped up almost the entire wardrobe of British TV show "The Bill" to prevent criminals acquiring the uniforms and impersonating officers. The London force will pay thousands of pounds to the makers of Britain’s longest running television crime series for many items the ITV show later discarded.

Other clothes from the production - including 72 police caps and hats, 97 shirts and 28 high-visibility jackets have been kept by the Met to distribute to its frontline staff. The uniforms were acquired after the show was axed in August. It had been running for 27 years.



The series, which helped launch the careers of stars such as Keira Knightley and Robert Carlyle, prided itself on its realism and, uniquely, had permission from the Met to cast actors in real uniforms and even stab-proof vests bearing the force’s insignia. However, when ITV announced in March that The Bill was to be dropped, senior officers at the Met feared the show’s clothing could fall into the wrong hands.

Criminal gangs are willing to pay hundreds of pounds for an authentic police uniform. Such clothing can be purchased from specialist suppliers that operate without restriction on the internet, some as far afield as Australia. The Met decided that securing every police-related item from Talkback Thames, the company behind The Bill, was the only way to avoid a mishap and guarantee public safety.