Sheriff Rolling Out New Uniforms June 1st

A press release from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department:

Starting June 1st, Sheriff’s Deputies Will Begin Wearing New Uniforms

Beginning June 1, 2016, Sheriff’s deputies of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office will begin wearing a new uniform and a new patch.

The new uniforms will be dark blue shirts and trousers and will be worn with a new dark blue patch.

The new McHenry County Sheriff's Deputies' uniforms.

The new McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputies’ uniforms.

When Sheriff Bill Prim took office, he asked members of the department for recommendations on changes and for feedback on what the department was doing well and what could be improved.

The new McHenry County Sheriff's Department patch.

The new McHenry County Sheriff’s Department patch.

A strong sentiment was expressed by deputies within the Patrol Division to change their uniforms.

The overwhelming reason expressed was officer safety.

The darker shirt presents a less visible target than the lighter shirt and white shirts worn by the ranks of Sergeant and above.

With this change, there will be cost savings.

The new shirts cost $5 less and the trousers will be $13 less.

The change in the deputy’s uniform trouser is that the blue stripe down the leg will be removed.

This blue stripe required special tailoring.

Sheriff’s deputies are given an annual uniform allowance to purchase new uniforms and other needed duty gear.

The costs of the new uniforms and updated patches come out of each deputy’s allotted credit, requiring no additional expenditure from the county budget.

The patch previously worn was designed and instituted in 2001.

Before the yellow and blue patch with the 17 stars for the 17 townships was implemented, members of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office wore a patch that resembled Lake County’s.

The change in the patch in 2001 met some resistance.

The new patch was designed by a committee of Sheriff’s deputies, voted on and approved by a majority of deputies and approved by the Sheriff’s Office Administration.

The Sheriff’s Office has been preparing for this change for more than three months.

During the month of June, members of the public may see some older light blue uniforms as not all new
uniform orders have been completed. A month of transition will occur and beginning July 1, 2016, the old blue uniforms will be “officially” retired for the Sheriff’s deputies of McHenry County.

The Sheriff’s Office has placed photos of the new uniforms on our website:

www.mchenrysheriff.org and will be sharing photos of the new uniform look on our social media pages: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.


Comments

Sheriff Rolling Out New Uniforms June 1st — 4 Comments

  1. Sorry, but the patches look cheap.

    Not the department’s fault.

    Nothing is made with any quality anymore.

  2. Wow. the uniforms really look very professional.

    What struck me the most about the article was that the Sheriff took the time to listen to the officers concerns and responded in a positive way.

    Looks like a win-win for all and it was the officers combined decision on the new uniform.

  3. Anything is worth their safety and to do it at a cost savings is great.

    Thank you Sheriff Prim.

  4. In the past, uniform vendors used MCSO ave been political contributors to the Sheriff.

    Just wondering if the vendor was changed and if there is any relationship with sheriff Prim and the uniform vendor whomever they are.

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