Guards to get better uniforms for vests

by Kelley Shannon

The Associated Press

It’s makeover time for Texas prison guards.
A new uniform featuring a short-sleeve, more casual navy blue shirt will soon be a wardrobe option for guards, in addition to traditional long-sleeve gray shirt uniforms.
The reason: Additional flexibility and comfort for guards who wear stab-resistent protective vests under their clothing.
“When you wear your (protective) vest, it’s a more manageable and cooler uniform to wear,” said Nathaniel Quarterman, correctional institutions division director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
As Quarterman described the new apparel, three corrections officers modeled the old and new styles Thursday. Members of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice looked on, offering a little lighthearted commentary about the nattiness of the new look.
The fashion-show-like presentation was a break in routine for the normally staid board meetings, where computer purchases, substance abuse treatment programs and land transactions are also taken up.
Lighter and more durable than the old long-sleeve button-down uniform shirts, the new style resembles uniforms worn by some police departments and prison guard uniforms in other states, Quarterman said.
Guards will be allowed to choose whether to wear the old or new uniforms, he said.
Officers use protective vests beneath their clothes depending on the violence level of the inmates in their prison unit and where in the unit their jobs are located, said agency spokeswoman Michelle Lyons.
Even guards who aren’t required to use a vest can purchase and wear one, she said.
Throughout the Texas prison system there were 67 serious assaults on staff members in the most recent fiscal year, up slightly from 62 a year earlier, according to Lyons. A “serious” assault is defined as one requiring medical treatment beyond first aid.
There are approximately 25,000 corrections officers in the Texas prison system, which had 155,711 inmates as of this week.
The new uniforms, which include two gray pants options with the navy blue shirts, are being manufactured within the prison system from cotton grown on prison land.
Production will begin in January, and the new uniform option will be phased in over the next two years for guards around the state.
“It’s completely up to the officer which uniform they wear,” Lyons said. “Some people prefer the classic style, some prefer the newer look.”
Variations on the current gray Texas guard uniform have been in use since the 1960s. The last update was about 10 years ago, when seniority slashes representing an officer’s years of service were added to the sleeves, Quarterman said.
The new shirts don’t include the seniority slash marks or many patches in order to protect the integrity of the clothing, he said.
On the Net:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice at www.tdcj.state.tx.us