Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office deputies, many of whom serve rural parts of eastern Colorado, are donning Western cowboy hats as a new part of their uniforms — a nod to the county's history and an added element of sun protection.
The hats, which are black wool Stetsons from the Stallion Collection, are optional for deputies. They have to buy the hats themselves if they want them, Sheriff Tyler Brown said.
Cowboy hats serve several purposes, Brown said, including embracing the county's western agricultural history and current landscape, as well as instilling a sense of department pride in deputies.
"Arapahoe County, being the first county in Colorado, our roots are in the Old West and those traditions," Brown said. "We really dive into that and appreciate who we are as an agency, and what that represents."
Arapahoe County was one of the 17 original counties of Colorado when Kansas became a state in 1861 and Colorado was made a territory.
Today, the county spans 806 square miles, with three quarters of it rural, according to the county's history page .
A little over a year ago, deputies approached Brown with a pitch to bring the cowboy hats back to the department.
The hats were last worn as part of the deputy uniform in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to a department social media post.
At first, the hats were a cost issue, Brown said.
The deputies then came back and said they'd be willing to buy the hats themselves if Brown authorized them as part of the uniform.
He looked over the proposal again and decided that, if the deputies were willing to buy the hats themselves and keep them looking sharp, they could wear them with the uniforms, he said.
"As the county expands eastward, there's a lot of people out there who live in that area where that's a part of their everyday life and they're accustomed to seeing people wear cowboy hats every day," he said. "I'll say it, they look sharp out there."
Deputy Riley Nolan lead the effort to get the hats authorized as part of the uniform after being reassigned to the county's eastern district.
At first, he got verbal permission from his captain at the time to start wearing a cowboy hat due to the nature of the area he served. Other deputies saw the hat and expressed interest in donning the same unique uniform piece.
"A big part of it was the heritage of the areas that we service," Nolan said. "Arapahoe County was one of the first sheriff's offices in the area and I felt like this paid some homage to that heritage."
Even in the rest of the county that is less rural, people still connect to the uniform element because of Colorado's western heritage, Nolan said.
Beyond paying homage to the county's heritage, there are practical reasons to replace the traditional ball cap deputies wear with a cowboy hat.
"Traditionally, we just have ball caps that only cover your face," Nolan said. "The cowboy hat has sun protection all the way around your neck, shoulders and face because they have wider brims. There's a little more protection from rain and snow. They keep the elements and sun off."
The change to the uniforms also opens up an "opportunity for conversation," Sheriff Brown said, pointing to the Facebook post about the new hats that had more than 1,000 likes.
"I was like, 'Wow, we went viral with cowboy hats.' It's kind of cool," Brown said. "People are paying attention to what we're doing. We're breaking down barriers, we're having conversations with people, and it's an opportunity to let our deputies be part of the process."
The new hats also add a sense of pride in the department, he said, giving deputies the opportunity to have stake in how they appear to their community, he said.
"This office belongs to the citizens of the county and to the men and women who work here," Brown said. "If I'm super lucky, I'll get to do this job for 12 years and then I'll have to hand it off to someone else. But the men and women who work here, I want them to have long careers here and make it the agency they want it to be. This is just part of that."
Brown has a cowboy hat and black boots to match that he wears in parades, he said.
"That was kind of the beginning of it," he said. "I don't wear that uniform very often, but when I do, I rock both."
At least 10 of Arapahoe County's deputies have started donning the cowboy hats as part of their uniform, Nolan said, but there area more waiting on their orders to arrive.
The hats serve as a reminder of the uniqueness of their department, both in terms of heritage and level of service, he said.
"It's a reminder in our differences in the level of service that we provide to our community, being as diverse and ranged as it is from the metro area all the way out to the super rural parts of the county," he said. "It differentiates us from some of our municipal partners and shows a pride in our sheriff's office."
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