LE uniforms dressing down ?

[smells like feet]

This thread has made me think about all the really great improvements to uniforms since the 1990s when I started.

Forage caps replaced with ball caps. Nylon replaced leather. Cargo pants replaced dry clean only striped dress pants. Outer carriers are a thing. I dont have to wear footwear I need to be able to shine. No one has asked me to clip on a stupid tie in forever. Things are so much more functional and comfortable.

And every one of those changes was opposed by old, crusty hidebound retirement age assholes like the guy who wrote the article bemoaning the rise of the polo shirt, and they opposed it for the same stupid reasons.

Bring on the uniform polo shirt, which since its really just a collared t shirt can replace the current undershirt/uniform shirt that is generally worn under a carrier anyways.

[BehindBlueI's]

What do you all think about duty belts- leather vs nylon vs the faux leather stuff?

Currently I use a Bianchi Accumold belt that is supposed to look like leather. It works well for me, but I do think leather looks better. The Accumold belt is lighter and easy to keep looking good.

I see merits to both and own both leather and nylon. My daily wear is TDUs with nylon, though.

[voodoo_man]

Turn over happens, even our senior officers are always looking to leave and the local townships know this and try to head hunt.

[KeeFus]

On uniforms...

I started wearing 100% blue shirt and pants polyester in 1995. It sucked. In 2006 I started wearing a poly wool blend that worked well. It was cooler in the summer anyway.

Now we are wearing all blue in a blend of some sort. It blows balls. It collects every hair and piece of lint within a 2 block radius. A sticky roller is your friend with these things. At least we aren’t wearing ties anymore. I agree that officers should be allowed to decide on long or short sleeves. That decision usually falls along the wayside for “uniformity”.

Polos should be reserved for guys that ride a desk most of the time. Polos on uniform patrol look like shit. So do those vest carriers in any configuration for that matter. Yes, even those that look like a real shirt.

Back problems? I’ve worn a Sam Brown belt since 1995 with everything you could possibly put on it with No problems. Take some Motrin for Christ sake and quit yur bitchin’! And you guys wearing the suspenders...just no. It all looks like shit.

Beards? OMG. Just no. You wanna look like a hippie go ride a whambulance or work in an ER or apply to work narcotics. You’ll make more money there too. Clean shaven and a short haircut On uniform patrol..no man-buns...no long hair.

Currently there is some debate at my agency about baseball hats and uniforms. For me it’s a no but I can see where it might be beneficial. It still looks like shit though.

Instead of spending time and money on all this agencies should invest more dollars in training. True story.

/end sarcasm

I retire in 7.5 months.

[BobM]

[QUOTE=KeeFus;953050

I retire in 7.5 months.[/QUOTE]

Me too. Can't get here soon enough

[Trooper224]

I'm on the fence when it comes to uniforms. The uniform I wore for twenty five years was pretty sharp and we looked good in it. However, that was part of the problem. Way back when, we received a national award for being the best dressed state police agency in the country. Consequently, getting the brass to change anything was like moving a mountain. When I came on the job, wellington boots were the only allowable footwear. After nearly breaking my ankle in a foot chase I decided to flaunt policy and started wearing my old jump boots. Everyone else also had the same idea and the brass eventually caved, mostly due to mass noncompliance from the troops. When we formed our K9 and commercial vehicle enforcement units, those guys had to wear the standard uniform and it took a long time to get headquarters to authorize BDUs for them. In the early days of SWAT we weren't allowed to wear our raid gear when we were in route to a call. We had to wear the standard blues and change when we arrived on scene. It took a long time to change that asinine policy.

I don't think the current trend of 5.11s and polo shirts with load bearing vests looks professional. On the other hand, one should face reality and I personally voiced the need for a uniform change within my agency for a long time for one reason: cost. Our uniforms were wool and individually tailored. The only variance being, short sleeves and straw hats in the summer and long sleeves, ties and felt hats in the winter. Unfortunately, the cost continued to climb but the quality kept declining. When I retired I had uniforms that were fifteen years old, had spent their life in the field and were good to go. The newer ones were so shoddy, I was lucky if they lasted a year before the pants blew out or the shirts had holes from all of the gear on my duty belt. The supposed tailoring devolved into three or four sizes and hopefully one fits. The ever increasing load out one had to carry spoiled the cut of the uniform as well. The uniforms simply weren't worth the considerable monetary outlay. I once voiced these concerns to the then superintendent. He told me that his uniforms held up fine. I asked him how often his uniforms, or he, got out into the field and suffered any wear and tear. When was the last time his uniform risked anything more than a soup stain at lunch? For some reason, he wasn't part of my fan club.

[LtDave]

I always wore 100% wool uniforms, never polyester except for one pair of poly pants I kept to wear in the rain. We had the same uniforms as LAPD except with shoulder patches.
Always hated ball caps, never wore one in uniform.
Couldn’t get our t-shirts changed from white to black before I retired. I also disliked the heavy jackets we had and would have loved to substitute a wooley pully sweater in cooler weather. Since we were in SoCal, it rarely got cold enough to require a heavy coat.

[TGS]

The ever increasing load out one had to carry spoiled the cut of the uniform as well.

To be honest, I think older type uniforms that have been pressed into service with modern equipment loads are often more unprofessional looking than the modern uniforms that many of the Old Guard consider to be unprofessional. No doubt that cops from a few decades ago had a much cleaner, sharp, distinctive appearance than those today, but whether that's relevant today is up for argument. That, and the generational gap on what a given age group thinks is professional enough, is why I think we are where we are.

About that last point, I bet there's some military police forum with a bunch of retired Cold Warriors who say MPs should still be wearing polished helmets and Service Dress for duty, as well.

[KeeFus]

About that last point, I bet there's some military police forum with a bunch of retired Cold Warriors who say MPs should still be wearing polished helmets and Service Dress for duty, as well.

Nah, We didn’t like the polished helmet liners...I was an MP from 1989-1993. When I finally worked a garrison/LE assignment we wore BDU’s and regular hats...and finally got an M9 instead of a 1911. I think I actually wore Class A’s twice after MP school.

[Cypher]

About that last point, I bet there's some military police forum with a bunch of retired Cold Warriors who say MPs should still be wearing polished helmets and Service Dress for duty, as well.

On the veterans forums that I participate in they're constantly bewailing the loss of spit shine jump boots.

I do have to admit though that ACU jump boots look kind of stupid