McHenry County Sheriff's police get first new uniforms in at least 40 years

WOODSTOCK – McHenry County Sheriff's officers are ditching their vintage look.

For the first time since at least 1973, McHenry County Sheriff’s Office deputies are getting new uniforms. Police will begin wearing navy blue uniforms as well as a new patch Wednesday, phasing out the light blue shirts and striped pants that have visually set them apart from other departments by July 1.

One of the driving forces behind the switch was safety, said Sgt. Mike Stadler, who also serves as the agency’s quartermaster. The lighter blue uniforms stood out and provided a silhouette of the deputy’s navy blue bulletproof vest carrier, which is worn over a deputy’s shirt.

“In a tactical environment, the officer might as well have been on fire with that uniform because that’s how easy it was to pick up,” Stadler said. “This uniform is far easier in a tactical environment to conceal oneself. In any environment, this is better.”

Unlike other states that require uniformity across departments, Illinois allows for sheriffs to dictate what colors their officers wear, said Greg Sullivan, executive director of the Illinois Sheriff’s Association. Some departments put deputies in tan shirts and brown pants; others require that they wear campaign hats.

While the uniform is at the sheriff’s discretion, Sullivan agreed the move to conceal vests was one that could help deputies in the face of an armed suspect.

“The more you can disguise the fact that you are wearing the vest, the more likely you are to make it through that,” Sullivan said.

For some, the old uniforms were even more eye-catching. Sergeants had to wear white shirts. Now, ranks from deputy to lieutenant will be in navy blue.

“It got dirty very easily and we stood out in a crowd,” Sgt. Porfirio Campos-Cruz said. “Everybody else was in one uniform and we were in white, so people just zone in on us for good or bad.”

Talks of a new uniform gained momentum in early 2015 after newly elected Sheriff Bill Prim asked for deputy feedback on what changes could be made to improve the department. Stadler said a committee of patrolmen formed to research what kind of uniform would boost police safety while also creating a more modern look.

In an effort to make the process as democratic as it could be, the committee would bring the ideas to deputies during roll call for votes.

“The votes that I saw were all 100 percent yes,” Stadler said. “To get a bunch of cops to agree on anything is pretty impressive.”

New uniforms also feature a patch that replaces one implemented in 2001. Designed by an elementary school student from Marengo, the old patch featured 17 yellow stars to represent the county’s 17 townships, four differently colored squares and “McHenry County Sheriff” in bold yellow letters.

The new patches are more subdued. “Sheriff’s police” is embroidered in grey around a grey star that matches the badge deputies wear over their hearts.

Deputies pants also saw a change. They no longer have a stripe running down the leg that had to be specially tailored for the sheriff’s office.

Overall, the uniforms will be less expensive for deputies. The shirts, at $35 apiece, are $5 less than the previous shirts. Meanwhile, the pants, at $60 a pair, cost $13 less than their predecessors, Stadler said.

Deputies bought the new uniforms using their annual clothing allowance – about $400 a deputy, according to the Fraternal Order of Police collective bargaining agreement.