I take your point about transparency. But I think that, even with transparency, those strains are problematic whether they are religiously based or otherwise. There's an article in today's Post about a secular literalist, absolutist, authoritarian conflict with modernity. It's about a Virginia law dictating county sherrif uniforms. <g>
washingtonpost.com
In Loudoun, Brown Is the New Tan
Sheriff Swaps Uniform Colors, Styles, but the Law Could Be on Shirttails
By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 8, 2004; Page B04
After four decades in tan trousers and brown shirts, the Loudoun Sheriff's Office announced last week that it is turning its internal fashion world upside down. Deputies will now sport brown trousers and tan shirts.
The force is thrilled, Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said -- especially with the new cotton-blend cargo pants. They are sturdier, airier and more flame-retardant than the retired polyester dress pants. They are cheaper. They have leg pockets to stick notebooks in. And their military style is the height of cop fashion. In fact, there is only one problem with the new uniforms: They might be illegal.
According to a 1960s-era state law, deputies must wear brown shirts or blouses, taupe trousers, a Smokey the Bear-type hat and other complementary accessories. White shirts are allowed in warmer months. Badges are left to the sheriff's discretion.
Turns out several sheriff's departments have long been bucking the brown -- and the law. Some departments spice up their looks with shades of green. Others wear navy blue pants. Still others are bolder: In the spring, Albemarle County is planning to unveil a new black-and-gray look.
Word was in sheriffs' circles that the law was antiquated and unenforceable. But in an official opinion issued in October, Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore (R) made no bones about the sanctity of Virginia's wardrobe regulation. The law was intended to standardize uniforms across the commonwealth, and it is "plain and unambiguous," the opinion said.
After learning about the opinion from a Washington Post reporter, Loudoun sheriff's officials on Monday expressed second thoughts about the new apparel. Deputies do not have to shelve their new uniforms yet, spokesman Kraig Troxell said, but they might not want to get too attached to them, either.
"We're still re-evaluating," Troxell said.
Loudoun decided to shuffle its colors last spring, before Kilgore's opinion. Simpson said the new look, which he first eyed on Hanover County deputies a decade ago, was a purely practical decision -- and, he believed, a legal one.
The stifling taupe dress pants that Loudoun sheriff's deputies have worn for four decades were fine for sitting in a patrol car but no good for dashing through briars, crawling under cars or contending with fire.
"They're polyester basically," Simpson said. "A flare hits them, and it burns the legs off of them."
Simpson figured the switch fell under the law's exception, which allows for variation if the standard uniform "would adversely limit the effectiveness of the sheriff's or deputy sheriff's ability to perform his prescribed duties." The taupe trousers are so delicate and easily soiled that they simply are not sensible, he said. Outfitting all 393 deputies in the new uniforms also saves the county $17,685 -- about 10 percent of the budget for the previous uniforms.
"You have to feel pride when you're in uniform," said Loudoun Sgt. Eric Prugh. The new uniforms, he said, "present a sharper appearance, a more crisp appearance." It does not hurt that the cargo pants are machine-washable, he said.
Kilgore's take on the law was requested by Sheriff Ryant L. Washington of Fluvanna County, northwest of Richmond. Washington could not be reached, but it appears Fluvanna deputies might have some gripes about the dress code: According to Kilgore's opinion, Washington asked whether "intangible factors" -- including morale concerns, retention of deputies and public perception -- meet the criteria for an exception.
Nope, Kilgore said -- the exception is pretty much reserved for undercover cops and bomb squads. Financial woes are no excuse either, he said. For uniform rebels to be busted, a resident of a county where violations are occurring must file a civil suit. If a court rules against the uniforms, the department must switch to the standard or face criminal penalties. To the best of Tim Murtaugh's knowledge, that has never happened, although he supposes it could.
"In theory, somebody might care that the shirts are the wrong color," said Murtaugh, a Kilgore spokesman.
Even so, most sheriff's departments in Northern Virginia said they were content to stick to brown, a tradition some say is rooted in sheriff's departments' rural ties to woods, rather than take a chance.
"We're not that brave," said Capt. Dave Rocco of the Alexandria Sheriff's Office.
John W. Jones, executive director of the Virginia Sheriffs' Association, said the law is "vague." The group has no immediate plans to fight it, however.
"That's just not an issue on our plate right now," said John W. Jones, executive director of the association. "We can talk about money and pay raises and benefits. On those issues, we're loaded up."
Loudoun's move came two years after the agency, like many others, began phasing out mud-colored cruisers for white vehicles. The law allows for that. It does not permit black patrol cars, although some departments drive them.
There is some movement away from dark brown in sheriff's departments nationwide, said Donna Pierson of the National Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors, which holds an annual "best-dressed" law enforcement competition. But many embrace the color, she said.
"They present that difference by being brown -- you know, what can brown do for you?" she said, referring to the UPS tagline. "And it has a whole new meaning with the sheriff."
Simpson said he believes the uniform law was aimed at the rag-tag deputies of earlier times who would "wear their bluejeans and flannel shirts and pin their badge on." Loudoun's variation was hardly so egregious, he said.
"At least I'm sticking with brown and tan," he said. "I'm just reversing the colors to make it more practical."
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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