Still Real Troopers in Snappy Uniforms

By Rhoda Amon | Staff Writer

AS POLICE fashion goes, New York state troopers are among the best-dressed. And they've held that sartorial distinction since 1917, when the troopers were established. In fact, the uniform has not changed much since then, said Trooper Tom Collins, who researches such matters. The colors are almost the same: gray shirt and pants with a black stripe down the trousers and a purple tie.

Nothing is constant, of course. The natty troopers in the circa-1950 photo above wore motorcycle-style britches tucked into boots with what appear to be decorative spurs, though they rode the range in a four-door Ford. They cross-drew their six-shot revolvers, right hand to left side, Collins said. And they tended to personalize the way they wore their Stetson-style hats.

Although the photo donated to the Suffolk County Police Museum in Yaphank was without identification, the Long Island trooper on the left is believed to be Gil Kazan, while the other is John Gallagher, who went on to become Suffolk County Police chief of detectives.

In the recent photo, Troopers Frank Santini and Brian Engel -- assigned like Collins to Troop L, the state police, based in Farmingdale at Republic Airport -- are more streamlined in their long-trouser uniforms, their semiautomatic weapons on narrower gun belts and their 2000 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car.