Police up in arms over dress code

Police in Teplice are up in arms over a new regulation concerning officers working in plain clothes. The regional police chief has introduced a dress code for plain-clothes officers, ordering them to wear long trousers, closed shoes and shirts with collars. He said officers had been dressing informally and looked more like basketball players or tourists which tarnished the forces reputation when they were unexpectedly called to deal with a case and produced police credentials. Officers say the new dress code will make them a laughingstock and make it impossible for them to deal with informers of infiltrate the criminal underworld.