A good measure of the crime deterrence of police on patrol stems from their high visibility both in their vehicles and on foot.

During the past few years, town police have phased in some changes in their marked patrol vehicles, moving from large, dark blue sedans to smaller black and white sedans, and now to black and white SUVs that are specially designed for police patrols.

During the coming year, town police will be phasing in changes to their uniform, which will retain some elements from the past and also incorporate improvements in apparel technology.

Before the town police department was organized in 1971, local police had functioned as a constabulary under the command of a resident state trooper. Consequently, the uniforms of town police have been very similar to those of the state police, in terms of general design, color, and trim.

Town police are now making the transition to more practical uniforms, when considering the physical aspects of patrol work.

One new feature that is immediately noticeable is the change from a campaign-style Stetson hat to a an eight-pointed police hat, which is more typical among municipal police departments.

Also, the new uniform has black cargo-style pants with multiple pockets for storage. The previous dressier uniform had dark gray pants with blue-and-yellow striping running down the vertical outer seams.

The new uniform features a fabric badge on the shirt above the officer’s left flap pocket. The previous uniform had a conventional metallic badge attached by a pin.

The new uniform, like the old, has a metallic badge affixed to the hat.

The former uniform had a name tag attached by a pin. On the new uniform, an officer’s surname is embroidered on the shirt in large lettering above the right flap pocket.

The shirt retains its traditional medium-gray color. A black necktie replaces the former bright blue tie. Instead of a necktie, police may wear a black dickey with their cold weather uniform.

Warm weather uniforms have short sleeves, and are worn without ties or dickeys.

Police typically wear their cold weather uniform from mid-October to early April, with the warm weather garb worn during the balance of the year.

The new uniform allows an officer to wear what is known as an “armor skin” or “vest shell.” That garment functions as an external holder for the body armor, which police are required to wear. Alternately, police may wear their body armor beneath the shirts of their uniforms, as they have in the past.

Whether or not police use an armor skin for their body armor, the appearance of their uniform would be similar.

One symbolic element of the uniform that is being maintained is the multicolored oval fabric shoulder patch, which includes images of the Main Street flagpole and Newtown Meeting House.

In light of their generally less colorful new uniform, police had considered converting the patch to a “subdued” color scheme, which would include black, white and gray tones, but opted to keep the colorful patch, when considering the tradition that it represents.

Police Captain Joe Rios, who is the department’s executive officer, said that police had a local artist design the shoulder patch almost 35 years ago.

“It means a lot to us. It’s symbolic of Newtown. We get very good comments on the patch. It’s part of the [police] culture,” Capt Rios said.

Police Patrol Officer Adam Greco said the new police uniform is more practical and more comfortable than the previous uniform. The shirt on the new uniform includes fewer glossy metallic parts, he noted.

“It’s a more distinctive look than what we’ve had,” he said.

The planned transition from the old uniform to the new one has been in the works for quite a while, he explained.

Sergeant Aaron Bahamonde noted that the eight-pointed hat fits better than the campaign hat and is more flexible. In cold weather, the Stetsons would become brittle, he noted.

So far, about half of the 45 members of the police department are wearing the new uniforms, he said.

Capt Rios, Officer Greco, and Sergeant Matthew Wood worked on the project to get new uniforms for police, Sgt Bahamonde said. He added that the ongoing transition to new uniforms has boosted the police department’s morale.

Capt Rios said that while the new uniform is more comfortable and practical than the old one, the garment retains the “professional look” which police want for their work.

Males and females in the department will wear the new uniform, he said.