Company Announcements
Larry MacDonald Retires from Edwards Garment Company
 Kalamazoo, MI, December 18, 2008 – Longtime company official Larry MacDonald has decided to retire from Edwards Garment after 34 years. During his tenure, Larry has served in many roles throughout the company. He opened up new sales territories, expanded customer service and has been a valuable member of the marketing team. He was instrumental in developing uniform programs for Edward's distributors and worked tirelessly to assist in growing their business.
In retirement, Larry reports that he'll be spending his time with a "honey do" list, golfing and following his passion by sailing the high seas. He will be missed.
Edwards Garment has been manufacturing and supplying corporate, casual and uniform apparel for 140 years. The company is privately held and headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan. "Dressing you from top to bottom," Edwards products are available through a nationwide network of dealers and distributors.
To learn more about Edwards Garment, visit www.edwardsgarment.com
Medelita Establishes Network of Authorized Uniform Retailers
 San Clemente, Calif., December 10, 2008 — Medelita™, maker of breakthrough medical apparel for female clinicians, announced today that it is assembling a national network of retail uniform shops that will be authorized to carry the Medelita product line. The company has quickly established itself as one of the pre-eminent brands in medical apparel by differentiating its garments in several ways. This innovation now extends to include a marketing program that is unusual within the retail uniform industry.
Prior to the introduction of the new retail program, Medelita was sold exclusively through its website (www.medelita.com) and at medical conferences. However, the garments are so well received by prospective customers at medical conferences, that it was apparent what needed to be done. Making the line available to customers in a retail environment is necessary, however, the executives at Medelita were concerned about maintaining the high-end image of their brand, which they have carefully cultivated.
To ensure that its reputation is maintained, Medelita has structured a retail program that offers select uniform retailers exclusive rights to sell the Medelita line of uniforms within a defined geographic area. In exchange for those territorial rights, the retailer is obligated to display Medelita in a designated area of their store. Retailers not only get exclusive rights to sell the Medelita line within their trade area, they also benefit from the unusual profitability of this high-end brand.
"When customers have an opportunity to experience the flattering fit of the Medelita scrubs and lab coats, the enthusiasm for the brand quickly translates into sales," says Lara Manchik, founder and chief executive officer, Medelita. "Our garments designed not only to fit the female body, but to flatter it. At the same time, the apparel's high performance fabrics are created to accommodate the endurance test which we call a day at work in health care."
Historically, uniform retailers had concerns about manufacturers selling directly to the consumer, affecting channel sales, however, Medelita is committed to using its website to inform customers about its product line and support retail sales with fair trade pricing. Medelita does not and will not discount their uniforms on their website, with exceptions for discontinued styles or colors. As the only brand in the industry to do so, Medelita makes a commitment to work only with authorized retailers and not through catalog or online discounters.
The program is in the process rolling out in three markets: California, Texas and Ohio. For information on becoming a member of the Authorized Network of Medelita Retailers, please contact Joe Francisco at 877-987 7979.
Medelita has one purpose: to reinvent the way women of all healthcare professions present themselves at work by offering the highest quality, best fitting, and most comfortable medical apparel available, including lab coats, women's scrubs and nursing scrubs. Medelita caters to professional women who want their uniforms to embody the poise and confidence already displayed from within.
For more information, visit www.medelita.com or call (877) 987-7979.
New World Emblem Catalog Launches
 Miami, December 2, 2008 - A team of developers have revolutionized the emblem industry with the launch of World Emblem International's new website and on-line catalog scheduled for 1/1/09. This new site takes the latest technology in on-line ordering and merges it with our enhanced informational database to give our clients an easy to use site that offers everything that they could ever imagine.
Three years ago, World Emblem surveyed their clients to find out what features they wanted to see on-line and what would make their jobs easier. World Emblem took all of these comments and suggestions into consideration to create the new on-line catalog.
The site has several new features and benefits including: Advanced Searching Capabilities; Split Shipments; Invoice, Sales Order and Shipment Tracking; Role Based Access; Request & Track Financial Adjustments; and Reporting
Users will be able to print out invoices, create reports on their order history, view price breaks, track shipments right to their door, set up new users with restricted roles and even supply garments for embellishment all through their customized on-line catalog. Each catalog is customized for the individual customer from the color scheme and logo right down to the color codes and pricing.
For a demonstration of all of our new features and benefits or to request an on-line account, please contact Customer Service at 1-800-766-0448.
World Emblem International, Inc. is one of the world's foremost designers and manufacturers of custom embroidered, screen-printed and sublimated emblems. In addition, World Emblem is a leading manufacturer of custom transfers, direct screen printing, direct embroidery, thermal ID tape, reflective emblems and materials, and houses a full inventory of blanks, corporate stock and hold emblems and garments.
To access the new site, visit www.worldemblem.com
Atlanta Promotional Products Company Acquires High Street Promotions
 Atlanta, GA, December 11, 2008 (PRWEB) - The Icebox, an Atlanta-based promotional products and corporate apparel supplier, has expanded its presence in the promotional products industry with the acquisition of Atlanta-based High Street Promotions, a leader in the industry. The strategic acquisition of the company both broadens and deepens The Icebox's ability to deliver unique, high-quality branding and marketing solutions to its clients in the Atlanta area and around the country.
"We are so excited to have Cary and the High Street Promotions team join The Icebox," says Jordy Gamson, President and CEO of The Icebox. "We've watched this company do incredible things and this is a great coup for us to be able to tap into the energy and creativity of this team. I've personally known Cary for 15 years and I look forward to adding his bright mind and his creative staff to our already outstanding team."
A portion of the High Street Promotions staff, including CEO Cary Romanoff, will be joining The Icebox team. "It's a perfect fit. I'm incredibly humbled to join forces with such a trend setting organization like The Icebox," says Romanoff. "From day one, High Street Promotions has been laser-focused on fresh creativity and uncompromised service while embracing technology. Over the years we've admired a handful of competitors who share High Street's values. The Icebox has always sat on top of that list."
Since 2001, The Icebox has been providing unique branded apparel and promotional products for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to non-profit organizations across the country. The company's full-service capabilities, which include creative designs, sourcing, and fulfillment services, as well as the state-of-the-art showroom has attracted clients such as Gold's Gym, The American Cancer Society, Verizon Wireless, LongHorn Steakhouse, and hundreds more. The acquisition will allow The Icebox to represent these premiere brands further, as well as reach out to potential clients with new solutions.
High Street Promotions was launched in 2005, by Cary Romanoff, out of a bedroom. The company grew rapidly into one of the industry's top revenue producers. Its customer base ranged from national non-profit organizations to mega-music festivals around the country.
The Icebox is a full-service, one-stop shop for branded apparel and promotional products. Their capabilities include creative services, garment sourcing, garment and product decoration, and fulfillment programs.
For more information, visit www.iceboxonline.com
iD by Landau Launches New Website, Professionals Dress With Ease
 Olive Branch, MS, Dec 17, 2008 (Market Wire) - With iD by Landau's revamped website, business professionals are now able to find the right work uniform with ease.
From corporate apparel to chef wear to aprons, the straightforward user-friendly website allows customers to shop by style, color, size, and industry. Customers also have the freedom to personalize with an embroidered company logo or name.
Recent data indicates that the restaurant industry employs an estimated 12 million people in the US. It is the largest private-sector employer in the country. From sous chef to executive chef, choosing proper chef coats remains as integral to the process of creating culinary masterpieces as the right knife or sauté pan. It is also often a reflection of a chef's personal style that goes well beyond favorite ingredients and cooking techniques. The accessibility of the iD by Landau website allows chefs to effortlessly purchase uniforms online.
But consumers will find more than just chefs wear at the innovative website. Despite a strained financial system, the spa industry has experienced continued growth. Striped jersey polo shirts, mock turtlenecks, and classic flat front pants are just a few items that reflect a wide range of spa wear ready to meet the needs of this growth industry.
Company logo shirts remain a popular option for many businesses. Companies can opt for more neutral colors or create a more unique uniform collection from the wide color pallet available through the iD by Landau website. In addition, the personalized logo option affords companies the opportunity for its employees to market the company and increase name recognition by getting dressed and coming to work.
For further information about iD by Landau please visit the website at www.idbylandau.com or call (866) 608-4343.
Recent Contracts
Police Uniforms Could Come at Premium
 Milwaukee, December 25, 2008 (Journal Sentinel) - It looks like the Milwaukee Police Department will get the new uniform style it wants, but it could come at a significant price.
The only supplier that made City Hall's first cut, Goldfish Uniforms, submitted the highest-cost bid by $340,000, a 33% premium compared with one of its main competitors, city records show.
Goldfish, for example, would charge the city $72 for each pair of navy-blue uniform pants, compared with the $53 or $59 bid by two competitors. The contract calls for 9,000 pairs over several years.
The apparent low bidder, current supplier Badger Uniforms, was disqualified along with another contender, Lark Uniform. They did not propose a subcontract with a disadvantaged business, as required by the city, purchasing officials said.
Goldfish, a century-old local company, is a city-certified "emerging business enterprise" deemed financially disadvantaged. City officials say they cannot specify how any particular certified business meets the program's criteria, due to privacy concerns. A company official declined to shed light on the certification, but said Goldfish already has customers larger than the Milwaukee Police Department and could handle the job.
Badger told city purchasing officials its hands were tied because Goldfish was the logical subcontractor but was already bidding for the whole million-dollar-plus deal.
It's strange for a business to be forced to use a competitor, said Linda Robison, general manager of Badger.
"All it's going to do is jack up the prices," Robison said. "Unfortunately, the taxpayers are the ones who are going to have to pay for it."
Debbie O'Brien, who bought Goldfish in 2004 with her husband Michael O'Brien, suggests Badger is upset because it could lose a lucrative contract. Since 2004, the city has paid more than $900,000 to Badger to buy and supply clothing to the department through Badger's local outlet.
The emerging business program ensures taxpayers that monopolies can't take over various city-issued contracts, O'Brien said.
"In the long term, the taxpayers are better off for it," said O'Brien. The last uniform contract did not require a disadvantaged business subcontract.
O'Brien suggested the big price difference was due to manufacturer's discounts offered to suppliers who have done a heavy volume of business with certain manufacturers. Spiewak, the New York city-based maker whose pants and shirts were selected by police and written into the bid specifications, declined to comment on that.
Although only Goldfish's bid remains standing at the moment, the bid process is not final. Police officials must review it, and city purchasing officials have to give final approval.
"If that bid is at an amount that they (police) don't want to pay, they have the right not to do that," said Rhonda Kelsey, city purchasing director.
Kelsey said it was premature to comment on how the process will play out, but she acknowledged that getting the best deal for taxpayers is one important factor.
"Cost is a concern to me," she said.
The Milwaukee Police Department is reviewing the bids, said spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz.
The bid opening on the police uniform contract was delayed at the behest of Ald. Tony Zielinski, who has concerns over whether some uniform manufacturers have run afoul of the city's anti-sweatshop ordinance.
Zielinski said that he is calling for the whole contract to be re-bid.
He and textile/apparel union activists, along with the Milwaukee Clean Clothes Campaign, are hoping the city ultimately selects shirts and pants made by Elbeco, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer. Elbeco, unlike Spiewak, has unionized plants in the U.S, although it too has overseas plants that make apparel for many agencies, including police jackets for Milwaukee.
Goldfish Uniforms submitted an alternate bid substituting Elbeco-made duty pants and shirts. That bid was competitive with the Badger- and Lark-bid prices. But that bid was disqualified in part because Elbeco could not modify its gear in time for the bid opening.
For years, the city's cops have worn Horace Small brand pants and shirts made outside the U.S. by VF Imagewear, based in Nashville, Tenn., a company official said.
Badger's contract expired last summer but was extended until February 2009. At the time of the extension, Milwaukee police started a switch to Spiewak-made duty uniforms for officers seeking replacements. A department committee recommended the move to Police Chief Edward Flynn. Officers liked the hidden cargo pockets, the water-repellent fabric and other features.
So some officers are already wearing the Spiewak apparel.
Effects of the Downturn
Job Cuts Loom at ITG
 North Carolina, December 6, 2008 (Winston-Salem Journal) - More job cuts appear on the way at International Textile Group Inc. as the Greensboro company prepares to further reduce the presence of former titans Burlington Industries Inc. and Cone Mills Corp.
ITG said in a regulatory filing this week that it is consolidating the Cone Denim and Burlington WorldWide divisions.
"The structure of the new combined apparel business will be determined over the next couple of weeks," said Delores Sides, a spokeswoman for ITG. "The changes are being made to help drive and accomplish the strategic goals of the company and operate more cost-competitively in light of current economic conditions."
The job cuts would be just the latest at ITG, which announced in November that it was eliminating about 150 jobs at its historic White Oak plant in Greensboro by early December as it discontinues yarn. The company will have about 360 employees at the plant, which was opened in 1905 and once served as Cone Mills' flagship.
"As far as ITG is concerned, I think it is a reflection of a slowdown in the entire world economy," said Peter Tourtellot, the managing director of Anderson Bauman Tourtellot Vos & Co., a turnaround-management company in Greensboro.
"It is impossible to tell from this announcement where the cuts will be made," Tourtellot said, "but I would not be surprised if some Greensboro jobs will be lost in this consolidation."
ITG has been among the more aggressive textile manufacturers in shipping production offshore, particularly to lower-cost operations in Latin America and China. It had cut 400 denim jobs in Greensboro in 2007 and 250 in 2006.
This year, it opened a $107 million denim plant outside Managua, Nicaragua, for its Cone Denim division.
Wilbur Ross' private-equity company, WL Ross & Co., bought both Burlington and Cone -- once two of the largest textile companies in the world -- out of bankruptcy. It bought Burlington for $614 million in November 2003 and Cone for $90 million in March 2004.
At the time of the formation of ITG, Burlington had 5,000 employees, including 1,550 in the Triad, and Cone had 2,250 employees, including 1,181 in Greensboro and 1,725 in the state.
As an independent manufacturer and a division of ITG, Cone Mills has eliminated at least 5,381 jobs in North Carolina since 1991, including 2,204 since August 2001, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission. At least 888 were denim jobs in Greensboro.
ITG has nearly 11,800 employees worldwide, Sides said.
"Higher-end apparel is taking a big hit right now," said Michael Lord, an associate professor of management at Wake Forest University. "And on the automotive side of the business, times obviously are very tough as well.
"Unfortunately, any general restructuring like this probably will mean additional job losses.
"This time, it seems pretty clear that some of the job cuts will be administrative rather than just manufacturing."
Program Aimed at Aiding Textile Mills
Washington, December 29, 2008 (AP) - The federal government will provide millions of dollars to U.S. textile mills in a multiyear effort to shore up the industry as overseas competition stiffens and recession tempers consumer demand for apparel products.
The program is expected to cost about $80 million in its first year and allow 60-70 mills that use cotton to invest in new equipment or upgrades to help them remain viable. The program, authorized in the 2008 federal farm bill, will expire in 2012. Which companies will get the aid - and how much - hasn't been decided yet. The ultimate cost wasn't immediately clear.
Industry officials say it's not a rescue plan in the vein of recent packages for the troubled U.S. banking and auto industries, since the cost is being offset by cuts in subsidies to cotton farmers. But the overall goal is the same.
"I think 'stanch the bleeding' is where we're at right now," said David Ruppenicker, executive vice president of Southern Cotton Growers, which represents producers from six Southeast states. "I have no real opinion on whether Chrysler or GM should get a bailout. But once they're gone, they're not coming back. It's the same with the textile industry: once mills are closed or torn down, they're gone."
More than 600 mills have closed since 1997, with North Carolina and South Carolina hardest hit, according to figures compiled by the National Council of Textile Organizations. Figures also show 29 percent of U.S. textile and apparel jobs - about 195,000 - were lost between December 2004 and December 2007.
The organization's president, Cass Johnson, attributes much of the troubles to China. Government-subsidized Chinese mills are making it tough for U.S. mills to compete, he said. U.S. mills are concentrated in the Southeast.
Earlier this month, the United States filed a case with the World Trade Organization over what U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab called China's unfair industrial policies and apparent use of "WTO-illegal measures to promote its exports, ranging from textiles and refrigerators to beer and peanuts."
Belt-tightening consumers added to the industry's woes, pushing down retail demand for cotton the equivalent of nearly 1 million bales through September, according to a National Cotton Council calculation based on federal commerce and agriculture statistics.
Johnson said additional layoffs and mill closures are possible before the economy rebounds. Mill operators, he said, consider the aid program a lifeline to stay open.
"You do expect that things like socks and underwear and T-shirts are necessary products, (that) people will always buy them," he said. "But I think at this moment, retail chains are ... more willing to go without, to have empty shelves, than to have excess inventory."
U.S. mills aren't alone in feeling the pinch. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects world mill use will drop 3 percent from last season as consumer demand slows. Production declines are forecast in Turkey, Pakistan, India and China.
Anderson Warlick, president and chief executive of Parkdale Inc. in Gastonia, N.C., said the federal aid program is crucial for plants like his that already have scaled back.
"I put it to you this way: those of us in the industry know, the fat has been gone out of the industry for 15 years," he said. " ... Today, you're cutting through the lean muscle."
Labor Disputes
Suit over San Leandro Police Dressing Time to Strip City of $660,000
 San Leandro, December 17, 2008 (The Daily Review) — The City Council on Monday settled a 2006 lawsuit brought by the San Leandro Police Officers Association seeking compensation for time officers and sergeants spend "donning and doffing" their uniforms at the beginning and end of their shifts.
The settlement includes a city payment of $460,000, — with about $200,000 going to the association and its approximately 90 members, and the remainder to attorneys.
In addition, the council approved another $200,000 in longevity pay, shift and assignment differentials for these officers and sergeants in 2010.
"It's been a long, drawn-out process," Sgt. Mike Sobek, the police union's president, said Tuesday. "At the end of the day, this agreement and settlement is fair to all parties."
Sobek echoed the words of Mayor Tony Santos on Monday night after City Attorney Jayne Williams announced the settlement following a closed council session.
The city had been facing a possible liability of nearly $1.5 million, Sobek said. He added that he and other association officers previously told former city manager John Jermanis that they didn't want to break the city's bank.
In December 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled that uniforms and safety gear are integral to an officer's job. Time to put on and take off the uniform and equipment deserves compensation, the judge wrote.
The 2006 suit, Greg Lemmon v. the City of San Leandro, alleged violations of the U.S. Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act.
Lemmon, a police sergeant, was association president in 2006 and now is association vice president.
Other law enforcement groups, as well as other U.S. and California cities, also have filed suit or revised their labor agreements to deal with the issue of putting on and removing police uniforms and equipment. These groups include the California Highway Patrol, which pays a 3.5 percent premium to cover the time before and after shifts, and Berkeley, which pays for an extra 20 minutes per shift.
Beginning next month, as part of the settlement, San Leandro has agreed to: pay for 20 minutes per shift for uniformed officers and sergeants to don and doff their uniforms and gear; ten minutes to be rolled into the shifts of all patrol officers and sergeants for briefings; provide patrol sergeants with an extra 20 minutes of time off for time spent preparing for each briefing; remove shift differential pay of $100 per month in 2009 for uniformed officers in patrol and traffic divisions, and in 2010 for non-uniformed officers and sergeants in investigations in administrative services.
Economy Complicates Labor Dispute
 Adjuntas, PR, December 10, 2008 (NY Times) - At a squat green factory here in the mountains of central Puerto Rico, workers stitch together camouflage uniforms for American troops. They arrive around sunrise, and the first thing they see is a banner that reads, "Say no to the union!"
It is the most visible sign of an intensifying conflict over sick days that has set mostly rural Puerto Rican workers against one of the nation's largest manufacturers of military clothing. And in a sign of what may be to come in other depressed areas, both sides seem determined to use the faltering economy to gain leverage.
The company, Propper International of St. Charles, Mo., has been making military uniforms for more than 25 years. It employs about 3,000 people at eight factories in Puerto Rico, and Tom Kellim, Propper's chief executive, said in an interview that its pay and benefits were "equal to or better than the competition."
Indeed some employees say they feel blessed just to have a job, with Puerto Rico in its third year of recession and unemployment at nearly 12 percent.
But others — like Gladys López and Albert Torres here in Adjuntas — accuse the company of using an oversupply of labor to sidestep a Puerto Rican law (known as Law 180) that grants full-time employees 12 paid sick days and 15 days of vacation per year. Ten years after the law passed, workers say, Propper still does not pay for sick days and allows only about a week of paid vacation.
In interviews, they described a company where employees were expected to disregard their health to keep sewing.
Ms. López said that after she injured her back a few years ago at work, she postponed a doctor's visit to protect her pay and her job. Similarly, Mr. Torres said he had put off an operation for a thyroid problem because he feared the consequences.
"I waited a year before going for surgery," he said. "And when I finally submitted the paperwork to my superiors, two days later they gave me a memo stating I had been laid off."
Mr. Torres said his health seemed to be the only cause for termination. "When I had my surgery and went back," he said, "they rehired me."
Workers from other Propper factories also said they had felt pressured by the lack of paid sick days and their financial needs to take greater risks with their health.
Maritza Vázquez, a worker at the Propper factory in Lajas, in southeast Puerto Rico, said that after surgery for breast cancer a few months ago, she cut her recovery short by three weeks to get back to work.
"They made me sign a release at the doctor's office in case something happened to me," Ms. Vázquez said. "It took longer for my scars to heal, but they eventually did — and at least I didn't lose my job."
Mr. Kellim, in a brief telephone interview, did not deny that Propper failed to grant its workers the sick days allotted by Law 180. He said a longstanding "mandatory decree" from the Puerto Rican government exempted the apparel industry from certain labor provisions.
But according to legal experts, such a decree may apply, if at all, only to workers hired before Aug. 1, 1995. For more recent hires, like Ms. Vázquez, who started working at Propper in 1999, Law 180 superseded the earlier agreements, said Manuel Rodríguez Banchs, a law professor at the University of Puerto Rico.
"What the law did was make uniform a set of minimum requirements for all those companies that were subject to several different decrees," Professor Rodríguez Banchs said.
Puerto Rico's Department of Labor, which is responsible for enforcing the law, did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Diana Stewart, a spokeswoman at the Defense Logistics Agency — an arm of the Department of Defense, which ordered $99 million in products from Propper for fiscal 2008 — said her office would contact labor officials to learn more about the employees' accusations.
Some of the workers said they had already filed formal complaints. They also turned this year to Unite Here, the union that represents more than 450,000 hotel, restaurant, apparel and laundry workers.
Liz Gres, a Unite Here organizing director in San Juan, said Propper was the largest of at least five military uniform manufacturers in Puerto Rico that do not comply with the law requiring paid sick days.
"They've basically been acting like this new law was never passed, and getting away with it for many, many years," Ms. Gres said.
Still, the conflict shows no sign of fading; the antiunion banner in Adjuntas compares organizers to leeches with the line "pa' fuera el chapacuotas," or "out with the dues suckers."
And the battle comes at an especially uncertain time. Puerto Rico has also lost 50,000 manufacturing jobs over the last four years, and evidence from independent groups like the Center for a New Economy suggests that high taxes, strict labor laws and government inefficiency are part of the cause.
Mr. Kellim said making military uniforms these days in Puerto Rico "is a very low margin industry."
But Ms. Gres said Propper was simply exploiting the economic moment.
"They know it's difficult to find jobs," she said, "so people will take whatever they can get."
End User News
Flint Police Detectives Forced to Wear Uniforms Instead of Suits
 Flint, MI, December 4, 2008 (The Flint Journal) - The Flint detective bureau is getting some international flavor.
And not everyone is happy about it.
In a country where most police detectives wear a suit and tie, Flint police are now following a British lead by requiring investigators to wear clothing that announces who they are wherever they go.
Why the change?
"People want to see officers in uniform," said interim Flint police chief David R. Dicks.
But the fashion switch is not embraced by everyone.
Some Flint detectives have found their uniforms no longer fit, while others say it makes their effort to solve crimes that much harder.
Flint detectives are not alone in their affinity for suits.
Investigators in other departments say it's unheard of for detectives to wear a uniform.
Lapeer County Sheriff's Lt. Gary Parks hasn't worn his uniform in about 30 years -- and it's not because he doesn't like wearing a badge on his chest.
Parks said he wore a uniform when he was first promoted to detective in the mid-1970s but said it was too hard to focus on cases.
Citizens, he said, would flag him down to chase after everything from speeders to people who didn't stop for red lights.
It didn't help, said Parks, that people tended to be intimidated by the uniforms.
Statewide, the 125 detectives working for the Michigan State Police have the choice of wearing a uniform or a suit.
Their choices? "I'm not aware of any who wear (the uniform)," said state police spokeswoman Melody Kindraka.
Kindraka said the suits allow their detectives to blend better.
"We find it more appropriate," she said.
There are questions of whether the new attire is the smartest approach to solving crimes.
"I don't like it," said Genesee County Prosecutor David S. Leyton, who believes people are less inclined to be seen talking to a detective in a uniform.
"Witnesses will tend to clam up."
The new dress code has already eased up a bit.
Thursday, Dicks said he has responded to complaints by allowing detectives to wear suits when asking questions about homicides, rapes and "very serious assaults."
Everything else, however, will be handled in uniform.
"When it comes to robbery (and other crimes) there is nothing wrong with them going into the area and talking to citizens in uniform," said Dicks.
Uniformed detectives may be rare in America -- just check out primetime television -- but the Flint approach is similar to one undertaken in Britain.
Six years ago, plainclothes detectives in Sussex, England made news when they were ordered to wear jackets emblazoned with force crests and the word "Detective" in an effort to raise their profile in the community.
Dicks believes his approach will foster goodwill in the Flint community.
"I want to regain the trust of people in the neighborhoods," said Dicks.
EBR Deputies Get New Uniforms
 Baton Rouge, LA, December 17, 2008 (The Advocate) - Green is the new beige.
East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputies traded in their old polyester duds for new, spruce green uniforms Saturday, spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks said.
An anonymous donor gave $632,563 to the office specifically to buy new uniforms, Hicks said. So far, $580,000 has been spent outfitting each of the office's 647 deputies with four shirts and three pairs of pants.
The outgoing uniforms — beige shirts and olive green pants — had been in use for more than 30 years, Hicks said.
The donor did not get to dictate the new look, Hicks said, which was suggested by a panel of deputies and approved by Sheriff Sid Gautreaux.
Several deputies surveyed Tuesday seemed pleased with their new outfits but hope the public becomes accustomed to them soon.
"I'll love it, as soon as people get used to it and stop asking us what agency we're with," Lt. Tiffany Veal said.
"And stop calling us park rangers and elves and border patrol," Deputy Carol Hornsby-McCoy, 51, added.
Though about 95 percent of deputies are wearing the new uniforms, some, including Deputy Cameron Mitchell, are still waiting for the right sizes to arrive.
"I've been getting some funny looks — I'm the odd man out — but I should be getting it soon," Mitchell, 38, said.
The badge, arguably a deputy's most recognizable accessory, has also been tweaked, now featuring green font instead of blue.
Headwear — currently baseball caps, if anything — will also be changing, Hicks said. Deputies will soon start wearing campaign hats, resembling those worn by Louisiana State Troopers.
The new uniforms are permanent press, relieving deputies from ironing duties, Hicks said.
A redesigned patch is sewn onto each shirt, incorporating an American flag, a pelican and a fleur-de-lis into the design to represent country, state and parish, Hicks said.
The shirts and pants are made of more breathable fabric, Hicks said.
The new uniforms are also a visible reminder of the office's new identity, Hicks said.
"This is an outward reflection of inward changes going on in the office," Hicks said, citing Gautreaux's efforts to boost morale by increasing insurance benefits and salaries.
New Military Uniforms Repel Mosquitoes
 New York, December 30, 2008 (About.com) - Since the Revolutionary War, U.S. soldiers have fought off many enemies, including mosquitoes. Now the war against the mosquitoes may be won, as the USDA reports the development of new methods of applying mosquito-repellent chemicals to military uniforms that actually work.
Mosquitoes pose a particular threat on the battlefield, because of their tendency to transmit human diseases, and soldiers fighting for their lives rarely find the time to swat them away.
While the insecticide permethrin has been used to treat uniforms since 1991, it has failed to work reliably due to the wide variety of fabrics used by the military. So, the USDA's Mosquito and Fly Research Unit got to work on the problem, developing a new method for assessing each fabric's ability to retain the mosquito-repelling effects of permethrin.
Working with the USDA, the Marine Corps discovered that their new permanent press uniforms failed to retain permethrin when washed. A new application process and reformulation of the chemicals used solved the problem.
And for soldiers and non-soldiers alike, the USDA is also working on new non-chemical methods of repelling mosquitoes promising to make us a nation of happier campers.
International
New NHS Uniforms Designed to Reduce Risk of Infections
 Glasgow, Scotland, December 17, 2008 (The Herald) - For generations doctors have been instantly recognizable by their long white coats.
But yesterday the distinctive garments were banned, along with ties and long-sleeved shirts, under the latest moves to reduce the risk of hospital infections.
The new NHS dress code states that doctors should dress in a "professional manner" and wear short-sleeved shirts instead of long-sleeved.
They should not wear white coats or ties.
There was no guidance on how often they should wash their work clothing, a government spokesman said.
The doctors' new dress code was announced yesterday alongside the launch of nationwide uniforms designed to make nurses and support staff more easily identifiable.
In stark contrast to the consultants' trademark white, nursing and auxiliary workers currently wear uniforms in a range of more than 150 colors.
In the future, nurses will wear tunics in one of four shades of blue, depending on their rank, while porters, domestics and other support staff will be limited to two shades of green.
The Scottish Government said that all the uniforms are short-sleeved, further helping to reduce the spread of hospital-acquired infections like MRSA.
A national NHS uniform is expected to save health boards money as they benefit from bulk-buying from a single national supplier.
NHS workers were also told that "wherever possible" they should not wear their uniforms outside work because of concerns over hygiene.
But not all hospitals have adequate laundry or changing facilities, prompting a government audit of the situation.
Staff at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) yesterday welcomed the new tunics, worn with trousers, which are also lighter and more flexible than existing clothing.
Doctors welcomed the dress code too, but warned that the best way to tackle infections was through proper hand washing.
Announcing the move at the ERI yesterday, Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "There are so many different types and colors of uniform that if you walk into a hospital now you cannot tell which staff do which job.
"The national uniforms will be phased in as boards need to renew existing uniforms. We have not quantified the overall savings but it will lead to more value for money."
She added: "There is evidence to suggest that ties, long sleeves and white coats can all increase the risk of infection spread."
A BMA spokeswoman said yesterday: "The BMA supports the intention behind the principles ... however, we would reinforce the point that hand hygiene is the quickest, cheapest and easiest means of preventing the spread of infection in hospitals."
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