Reno County Sheriff’s office is all set to don new colors for their new uniform as they step into the new year.
The agency officers will be switching their decades-old blues with a dark gray shirt that is paired with dark navy blue pants.
“We wanted something comfortable and professional-looking,” said Reno County Sheriff Darrian Campbell, “We’ve worn the uniform so long,” he said. “When someone leaves, we’d put the uniform in a room and reissue them to a new officer coming in if they fit and were in serviceable condition. Looking across the agency, they were just getting old. The structure was breaking down, they’d been pressed so much, and some were fading.”
Uniforms and equipment distributor Baysinger has provided them with numerous uniforms options since April this year.
After months of wear-testing, they went with the dark navy blue and grey colors to distinguish their officers from the Hutchinson Police Department.
The Hitchinson Police Department has last year switched from tan shirts and green pants to the traditional dark blue color.
The legislature requires the police and sheriff’s uniforms to be in different colors to easily distinguish the agencies.
While a few officers in the sheriff’s office are not a big fan of the missing exterior cargo pockets on the pants that is exchanged with a hidden one, the use of polyester blend fabric is welcomed for being cooler than the earlier heavy twill shirts.
“We decided to make it happen four or five months ago, and decided on the colors we wanted to go with, but we had to make sure we had the funding for it. It was not in the budget, so we used some end-of-the-year money.”
Campbell said that it cost $30,000 for the 82 uniformed personnel in the department.
