ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — For the first time in decades, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office is allowing deputies to wear cowboy hats.
The sheriff's office said the last time deputies were given the option to wear the hats was in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The hats, which are black wool Stetson from the Stallion Collection, are voluntary and any deputies who would like to wear a hat have to buy one.
The idea to bring the hats back came from Deputy Riley Nolan (pictured below, right), an eight-year veteran of the force who is stationed in Bennett in rural eastern Arapahoe County.
Nolan said the hats are a good look for the state's oldest sheriff's office, which goes back to Colorado's territorial days.
"With the long history and the fact that we are a western sheriff's office, I thought it would be cool and appropriate to wear a cowboy hat," he said.
Nolan said the people he serves and protects have noticed his new headwear.
"Almost on a daily basis when I wear the hat, I get at least some comment on it and generally they've pretty much all been positive," he said. "People love the hats. People like the idea of having something distinguishing like that as part of our uniforms that we wear on a daily basis."
Nolan wrote a memo to Sheriff Tyler Brown outlining why they should have the hats, and he signed off on them a few weeks ago.
"Sheriff Brown gave the hats a thumbs up and several deputies have adopted the new look," the sheriff's office posted on social media. "Don't be surprised if you see more and more of them around, especially out in eastern Arapahoe County!"
More 9NEWS stories involving the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office:
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