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Jared
08-21-2014, 04:29 PM
I loved reading about how the blue uniforms got started in the other threads, but that's left me wondering something.

Why do so many city PD's wear blue, but county Sheriffs and Highway Patrols tend to wear browns or variations of that? I know it's not 100%, but it's very noticeable.

Thanks for any education.

Lon
08-21-2014, 05:51 PM
In Ohio, Sheriff/Deputy Sheriff uniforms are dictated by law:

http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/311-1

Now why that color scheme was chosen was never told to me by the Sheriif's Office I worked for.

Lon
08-21-2014, 05:53 PM
And so are State Patrol uniforms:http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/4501%3A2-5

There again, I don't know why.

VolGrad
08-21-2014, 08:03 PM
Good questions. Down here in GA most of the County patrol cars are brown as well. I've always wondered why that color was chosen and why it was mandated (or at least seemed like it).

jlw come on in and 'splain it to us. I know you know.

runcible
08-21-2014, 08:32 PM
It's likely a different story with each jurisdiction, scaling up and down; heck, consider why the NYPD's RMP's are marked "NYPD Police" and compare them to the Port Authority Police Department cars of recent era.

1slow
08-21-2014, 11:55 PM
I would hope the brown was because in the country it might blend in better in the woods.

Shellback
08-22-2014, 11:00 AM
We've got it backwards here. Las Vegas Metro wears tan/brown and NHP wears dark blue.

saints75
08-24-2014, 08:41 PM
In CA, police wear blue because it looks more professional then the friendlier tan uniforms a lot of P.D.s wear in the 80s. Two, it is more stealthy at night. Tan gives you away. Pretty much all PDs went back to blue in the early 90s.
Not all sheriffs wear tan and green. Orange County wears all green and some North County Sheriffs wear black. I depends on the sheriff I guess.
CHP wears all tan. I have heard there have been some request to change the uniform. I guess their commissioner (the chief) whats to keep it the same.

Sir Guy
08-24-2014, 08:59 PM
What first came to my mind was how we're usually so resistant to change. Why blue for city and tan for county? "That's how we've always done it." :rolleyes:

Chuck Haggard
08-25-2014, 09:48 AM
A lot of the traditional blue uniforms in police work are due to the amount of hand-me-down gear cities got after the Civil War from the Union Army.

An old LAPD newsletter I posted in another thread shows this. The whole "militarization" thing has been going on since the 1800s, at least.

Jared
08-25-2014, 04:35 PM
Chuck, I read in that other thread about the blue uniforms, and thought that was really pretty cool. It's just that that part got me to wondering where the brown or green or tan type uniforms that so many Highway Patrols and Sheriffs Dept's wear came from.

I googled it and came up empty, so I started this thread hoping to learn a little something.

Lon
08-25-2014, 04:59 PM
Chuck, I read in that other thread about the blue uniforms, and thought that was really pretty cool. It's just that that part got me to wondering where the brown or green or tan type uniforms that so many Highway Patrols and Sheriffs Dept's wear came from.

I googled it and came up empty, so I started this thread hoping to learn a little something.

As with many things with .gov, there may not be any rhyme or reason behind a uniform choice. I've seen agencies get a new chief who doesn't like a particular color uniform, so he changes the uniform to what he likes. Other agencies let their officers choose what color style the agency will go with.

Erick Gelhaus
08-25-2014, 09:32 PM
My office did not adopt uniforms until April 26th, 1960 - someone dug up and shared a copy of the newspaper article announcing the change. Since then its been tan shirts with green trousers and jackets for the deputies.

Chuck Haggard
08-25-2014, 11:23 PM
Army uniforms weren't always blue, or green, browns have been thrown in as well. Just guessing that's the source.

Who wore campaign hats first, troopers or doughboys?

SteveK
08-26-2014, 07:37 AM
In Ohio, Sheriff/Deputy Sheriff uniforms are dictated by law:

http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/311-1

Now why that color scheme was chosen was never told to me by the Sheriif's Office I worked for.

West Virginia also.

Trooper224
08-26-2014, 01:00 PM
The military lineage is obvious with most LE uniforms, but can someone explain Minnesota's burgundy brigade? That's the real fashion question.
http://images36.fotki.com/v1351/photos/4/42477/2095677/minnesota-vi.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/236/459819651_231ac0cac7_z.jpg?zz=1

HCM
08-26-2014, 01:35 PM
The military lineage is obvious with most LE uniforms, but can someone explain Minnesota's burgundy brigade? That's the real fashion question.
http://images36.fotki.com/v1351/photos/4/42477/2095677/minnesota-vi.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/236/459819651_231ac0cac7_z.jpg?zz=1

Nefarious Canadian influences.

Mac_724
08-26-2014, 05:28 PM
Here in Minnesota they call it "maroon." In the last 5 years or so they went back to that same vehicle style: Maroon body with white front doors. I think they used to have a red so dark it was pretty much brown. I do remember they (DPS) tried to generate a lot of excitement about how great the traditional style looked on the new squads. Why maroon for the squads and uniform? No idea. Could have been to separate themselves from the similar uniforms of tan and brown worn by Sheriffs.



The military lineage is obvious with most LE uniforms, but can someone explain Minnesota's burgundy brigade? That's the real fashion question.
http://images36.fotki.com/v1351/photos/4/42477/2095677/minnesota-vi.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/236/459819651_231ac0cac7_z.jpg?zz=1

Chuck Haggard
08-26-2014, 07:20 PM
Sorry, that is freaking hideous

Mac_724
08-26-2014, 08:01 PM
Haha, you don't have to apologize to me. I didn't pick the colors and I don't have to wear them. I'm not disagreeing with them being hideous either.

xray 99
09-01-2014, 08:23 PM
I think the red color is symbolic of the red iron ore mined in Minnesota.

Lon
09-01-2014, 09:56 PM
http://images36.fotki.com/v1351/photos/4/42477/2095677/minnesota-vi.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/236/459819651_231ac0cac7_z.jpg?zz=1

That has got to be the ugliest uniform I've ever seen on an American LEO. I couldn't go to work every day looking like that.

KevinB
09-02-2014, 08:18 AM
That has got to be the ugliest uniform I've ever seen on an American LEO. I couldn't go to work every day looking like that.

It would take a LOT of liquor every day if one was to...

medic15al
10-11-2014, 06:34 PM
Concerning the tan/brown uniforms of County deputies I was told by one old time retiree that the color scheme was chosen due to the early days when the sheriff needed deputies he would raise a posse of locals, many of them farmers who wore a variation of brown clothing while working in the fields, usually covered with brown dirt. Thus the idea for uniforms when standardization was implemented. Seems as plausible explanation as the next to me.

VT1032
10-11-2014, 07:20 PM
Vermont State Police have a pretty interesting story behind their uniform. They were founded in 1947 right after WWII and their first commissioner was Maj. Merrit "Red" Edson of USMC Raider fame (my grandfather's battalion commander on Guadalcanal). He based their uniforms and training on the USMC's and to this day, it's still pretty evident in the uniforms

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/sack88/State%20Police%20Uniforms/VermontSP.jpg
http://www.vermontwoman.com/articles/2012/0912/lawenforcement/juliesgt.jpg

Alpha Sierra
10-11-2014, 09:25 PM
The most bad ass police uniform in the US:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7301511346_dd594c8752.jpg

And the least......
http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j364/Kevin3177/bowtiewsp.jpg?t=1306412196

KenpoTex
10-13-2014, 09:28 AM
Gauntlets FTW! :cool:

Alpha Sierra
10-13-2014, 09:33 AM
Gauntlets FTW! :cool:

All those guys need are horses

KenpoTex
10-13-2014, 10:36 AM
All those guys need are horses

And sabers...definitely, sabers.

FotoTomas
10-18-2014, 09:43 AM
Good questions. Down here in GA most of the County patrol cars are brown as well. I've always wondered why that color was chosen and why it was mandated (or at least seemed like it).

jlw come on in and 'splain it to us. I know you know.

The Georgia Sheriff's Association has a set of "recommended" uniforms and markings for the 150 plus sheriff's offices in Georgia. Many of the smaller and less prosperus counties simply adopt the boiler plate recommendations. Some of the larger counties get a bit more creative. This back from when I was active in Georgia LE. The Georgia Statutes have laws regulating the signage minimums and emergency equipment for official vehicles and volunteer firefighters. In addition the Georgia State Patrol is covered in the statutes as well. The city and county Police forces chug along and can also get creative. One small town I was chief in had NO standards for uniforms. I simply wore the same uniform (Dark blue shirt with French blue trousers) as the last police department I worked at with new patches I designed. Several of the part timers I had on staff had various versions of tan/brown/green and gray. The current boss there has a gray uniform as standard but the part timers have some leeway as all equipment is privately purchased.

Florida is governed by statute for the Deputies and Sheriff's in the state to require some version of green in the uniforms and car markings.