Thanks to the efforts of Serving Our Servants — a Christian-centered group of residents dedicated to showing public servants appreciation — the new hats are now a reality.

It’s the classic cap that is most often associated with a police uniform.

Flared at the top with a shiny sun visor, each cap sports a miniature replica of the officer’s badge.

Officer Keaton Lunn was among the first to receive his new cap Tuesday during the evening shift change.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Fort Dodge Police officer Matt Webb, at left, poses for a picture with his new eight point cap Tuesday evening during shift change as Serving Our Servants founder Rev. Al Henderson takes his picture while Chief Kevin Doty watches. Each officer in the department will now have a new cap to wear with their Class A dress uniforms on formal occasions.

As he removed it from its protective plastic and put it on, a smile spread quickly across his face.

“These kind of help unify our department,” he said. “Especially at funerals or in other professional atmospheres.”

He takes great pride in being a police officer and agrees: the new caps will be a visible reminder of that pride.

Fort Dodge Police Chief Kevin Doty was on hand to help pass out the caps to the officers ending and starting their shifts.

Doty started his own law enforcement career in 1975 and well remembers when the caps were a part of the daily uniform.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Fort Dodge Police Chief Kevin Doty looks over some of the new eight point caps purchased with funds raised by Serving Our Servants before they were handed out to his officers Tuesday evening.

“You had better be wearing it,” he said. “You didn’t want to get caught without it. If you were out of your car you’d better be wearing your hat.”

However, the new caps are not for daily wear.

Roger Porter, current assistant police chief and incoming police chief, said the officers will be able to wear the caps during formal occasions such as funerals, presentations or public appearances.

It’s all about taking pride in their profession.

“The officers came to us,” Porter said. “They want to be able to look nice. They want to feel that pride.”

In the past, Porter said, the caps were once standard issue and part of the daily uniform. Over the course of time, the department moved onto other uniform designs and the cap fell by the wayside.

“These would be part of the uniform,” he said. “We quit purchasing them for the officers. The few we have are old.”

Getting a new cap for every officer on the department was an expensive proposition that just wasn’t in the budget. That’s where the SOS group stepped up to help.

“We talked to them about it,” he said. “They were happy to take on the project.”

Porter said he was honored to be able to hand out the new caps to the officers.

“We want to recognize them,” he said. “They do a lot behind the scenes. This is a very small token of our appreciation.”

SOS founder the Rev. Al Henderson said the just-over $5,000 needed to purchase the caps was raised twice as fast as they had hoped.

“I asked for two months,” he said. “It took about four weeks.”

He said community support for the project was strong among individuals, businesses and the Frontier Friends of the NRA.

“They were amazing,” Henderson said.

Henderson said that SOS was glad to take on the project.

“We said yes immediately,” he said. “SOS was glad to take the task.”

He, too, believes that the officers will enjoy the pride associated with the new caps.

“When you’re in a position such as a recent police funeral,” he said, “you see other departments’ officers of all different sizes, shapes and colors. You say to yourself, ‘We could look better — and we will.”

In addition to the caps, chevrons that indicate the officer’s years of service are also being added to the dress uniforms.

After the initial purchase of the caps for everyone currently on the force, Henderson said that as officers are added they will be provided with a cap to go with their uniforms.

“I believe they’ll be issued from now on,” he said.

For anyone interested in joining SOS in its efforts or making a donation, Henderson can be reached at 955-7285.