A local police department is freshening up their patch with a look to the past.

South Lyon Police Chief Chris Sovik said that with the changing of the culture and the department’s administration this year, which included him taking over as chief, he and his officers wanted to keep it going and update the patch on their uniforms. Sovik said they quickly learned that their talents were not in art design and turned to their Facebook community for help. The Chief said they received 17 submissions, and chose one from recent South Lyon East High School graduate, Dominic Albanys. Sovik said Albany’s submission stood out, highlighting the important elements that the department wanted represented.

The winning design features the iconic Witch’s Hat from downtown South Lyon sitting between 2 flags – the American flag, and the Thin Blue Line flag, which is a black and white American flag with a blue stripe under the stars that represents the sacrifice law enforcement officers make. On the upper half of the patch is “Est. 1930,” while in the lower-center is an outline of the state of the Michigan with South Lyon’s location marked.

A prototype is being produced by Huron Valley Guns, which supplies the department’s uniforms. Upon final approval the patch will go into production and be changed over. For his efforts, Albanys will be recognized by City Council at a future meeting. (MK)