THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9409300280
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
They got the blues. The new blues, that is.
After decades of wearing custom-dyed gray uniforms, the Police Department switched to metro-blue duds Friday.
The metro-blue uniforms - a dark blue similar to the color worn by Norfolk police - replace the department's old standard that fell somewhere between Confederate and battleship gray.
And one traditional-style police hat has replaced the two Stetson-style hats that officers were previously issued.
``The gray was a custom color the department came up with,'' police spokesman Mike Carey said. ``And now ordering that color is getting to be a problem.''
Metro blue is a stock color, which means the department can order as many or as few replacement uniforms as it needs. With the custom-dyed gray uniforms, the department had to order in bulk.
Carey said because the new uniforms can be ordered in small amounts, the switch will save the department money.
The switch also means each officer's shirt and pants are now the same color. Because the old uniforms were custom-dyed, the color of the uniform pants did not always mirror the shirts, leaving some officers wearing what looked like a mix-matched outfit.
In a survey of officers, the mix-matched look was one of the biggest irks.
``Most of the officers said they wanted to go with the metro blue,'' Carey said.
The gray uniforms will be stripped of patches and either donated to charity, or discarded, police spokesman Lou Thurston said.
Each officer has been issued three pairs of pants, three short-sleeved shirts, three long-sleeved shirts and one cap. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Officer G.A. Moyers, left, sports the new metro-blue winter uniform,
while officer B.D. Knight, right, models the new summer look.
Officer Mike Carey, center, wears the old custom-dyed gray uniform.
by CNB