Vicksburg residents this year will get a new way to know when cold weather has arrived — police officers will be dressed in different-colored shirts.

“When I was in the Mississippi Highway Patrol, we had a policy to change uniforms on a specific date,” Police Chief Walter Armstrong said Wednesday after the Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved the police request. “The military has a similar policy.”

In Vicksburg, the change will be tied to the weather instead of the calendar.

“We watch the weather and the temperatures, and when we feel the time is right, we change uniforms,” he said. The mayor and aldermen approved the department’s contract with Mid-South Uniforms and Supplies of Jackson to provide the clothing, payment for which will come from the $14,000 that the city accountant said the department has for uniforms.

The contract gives the department the option to buy long- and short-sleeve light blue, navy blue, or black shirts, and navy blue or black pants for the 50 uniformed officers.

Armstrong said patrol officers each have three short- sleeve and three long- sleeve shirts, and two pairs of pants.

According to Mid-South’s bid, long-sleeve shirts cost $37.40 each and the short-sleeve shirts are $35.90 each. Pants are $34.50 a pair, and the uniform’s winter jacket is $116. Replacing the officers’ complete uniforms could cost the department $21,970.

Choices of colors will come after the first few uniforms arrive and officers collectively decide what the uniform will be, Armstrong said.

“We went on ahead with the order so that once we made a decision on the color, we would be able to purchase the shirts,” he said. “We’re waiting on the officers.”

With Mayor Paul Winfield’s backing, Armstrong has said for months that he wants the uniform shirts to be changed from what the mayor calls “Biloxi blue.”

“This isn’t Biloxi,” the mayor said repeatedly. Armstrong’s immediate predecessor was Tommy Moffett, a former Biloxi police chief, whom Winfield fired after taking office in 2009.

Armstrong said he expects the department to buy long-sleeve shirts after the city’s 2011-2012 budget becomes effective on Oct. 1 and go from there.

In another police matter, the board approved the purchase of a 2011 Dodge Charger for $21,380. The car was bought through state contract using federal Justice Assistance Grant funds. It will be used by investigators.