Smokey, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Smokey n.

also Smokey the Bear, Smoky Bear

[Smoky the Bear, a character used in US fire prevention campaigns]

a traffic policeman, a Highway Patrolman; also attrib.

1973		Chopper Mag. Jan. 42: [headline] BEAR KNUCKLE. Eat Hog, Smokey.
1976		Humboldt Republican (IA) 21 jan. 2/2: Smokey Bear — Any policeman on the highway. Smokey on the ground — Policeman out on patrol. Smokey on rubber — Policeman moving. Smokey dozing — Policeman stopped.
1981		G.V. Higgins Rat on Fire (1982) 89: If there was a Smokey out there tonight, you couldn’t prove it by me.
1996		Eble Sl. and Sociability 21: Smokey the Bear ‘highway patrol officer’.
2000		B. Wiprud Sleep with the Fishes 56: He removed his Smoky Bear hat.

Smokey the Bear hat (n.)

(US) a broad-brimmed hat, typically dimpled at the crown, widely worn by U.S. Marine drill instructors, forest rangers, state police, etc.

1976		17 May diary in I. Malloy Southie Won’t Go (1986) 244: The state troopers heralded spring with short-sleeved shirts but not, like last year, their Smokey-the-Bear, wide-brimmed hats.
1997		T.E. Ricks Making the Corps 27: [H]is big flat campaign hat—drill instructors hate it when tourists call it a Smokey the Bear hat.
2003		A. Swofford Jarhead 29: [H]e bashed the brim of his Smokey Bear cover into my nose and pressed his index finger into my chest.