Dec. 31--Chicago police officers are once again allowed to wear knit caps as part of their uniform.
The reinstatement of the wintry weather attire comes months after the Police Department issued a new uniform policy that barred on-duty officers from wearing knit and baseball caps. The department said it wanted to "promote professionalism."
Late Thursday morning, several officers were seen on foot patrols along North Michigan Avenue sporting knit caps.
The uniform policy went into effect in June "to promote uniformity and professionalism," a department spokeswoman said at the time. She said officers had been using too many uniform variations, "making Chicago police officers less immediately identifiable to the public."
It was scrapped about a month after Garry McCarthy stepped down as police superintendent.
A more controversial requirement that cops cover up visible tattoos while on-duty remains in effect.
In October, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by three Chicago cops who challenged the tattoo requirement. U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras said the city's goal to have a professional-looking department with uniform restrictions outweighed the officers' interests in expressing themselves by keeping their tattoos visible while on duty.
