White button-down shirts and eight-point hats? That's soooo last decade.

Officers and sergeants with the Columbus Division of Police will soon be a little more "fashion forward" when they patrol city streets and respond to calls for service.

Opting for comfort over formality, the division is phasing out daily use of the white shirts and eight-point hats that have for decades been staples. Officers will instead transition to wearing a navy blue, polyester-blend shirt with an optional matching blue baseball cap. The division's navy blue pants will remain the same. 

The new uniform will be implemented across the division throughout the first half of 2022. 

The new shirts will have an embroidered badge and the officer's name and badge number embroidered on their shirts, both of which should be more visible to citizens, Sgt. Joseph Albert said.

The new shirts will continue to have a space for officers to wear their body cameras, and are designed to be more comfortable and functional for officers, Albert said.

For the external vests, which are now available with the change in shirts, there is a suspender-like wearable option, allowing for more equal weight distribution and reducing hip and lower-back stress. 

Bicycle, motorcycle and mounted unit officers will have reflective striping on the sleeves of their shirts as a safety measure, Albert said. 

The new shirts are also expected to be easier to keep clean and hide dirt than the white shirts, Albert said. The navy blue is similar to what is worn by Columbus firefighters. 

Police will continue to wear the white uniform shirts at formal occasions, such as promotions, ceremonies and funerals, and they will continue to be worn by some command staff.  

The new uniform design process began in March 2019 with a survey in which nearly 1,600 officers provided input. Albert said that more than 90% of the officers who responded said that they wanted to be able to wear their bulletproof vests on the exterior of their uniform shirt, which is less strenuous on officers' hips and backs, as well as being more breathable, keeping officers' body heat down. 

Officers began testing new uniform styles shortly after the survey in 2019, Albert said, and Chief Elaine Bryant and Assistant Chief LaShanna Potts approved the uniform change in 2021.

The most recent graduates of the James G. Jackson Columbus Police Academy were issued the new uniforms.

The uniform change comes with no additional cost to the city, which provides officers with a set number of uniform pieces and equipment under the terms of its contract with the Fraternal Order of Police.

Albert said officers who wish to wear their vest on the exterior of their uniform shirt will have to purchase the carrier for the vest themselves.