PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia police officers will have a new look starting in the fall. They are trading in their baby blue shirts, a shade first issued in the 1970s, for midnight blue ones.
“I believe it’s a boost in morale. It’s something new,” said Roosevelt Poplar, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5. “The lighter shirts were not holding up. They were staining, hard to maintain. Hard to clean.
“The commissioner came in and he thought it would be a good idea to introduce a new uniform change for the members, and from all of the discussions, the officers that I talked to, they like the shirts.”
Poplar said the darker color also looks more professional.
There will be another change regarding ballistic vests. They will be worn over the shirts, not under, with identifying marks that say “police” on the front and back.
Officers will still have a police patch on their shoulders.
The shirts will reportedly cost the city $1.3 million, which the Parker administration is paying for with unspent funds from last year’s police department budget.