Color of the day (police)

The color of the day is a signal used by undercover officers of some police departments in the United States.[1] It is used to assist in the identification of plainclothes police officers by uniformed officers. Perhaps its best known use is by the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the NYPD Transit Bureau (formerly the New York City Transit Police) and the NYPD Housing Bureau (formerly the New York City Housing Authority Police Department) among other law enforcement agencies.[2][3]

An undercover police officer will wear a headband, wristband or other piece of clothing in the "color of the day";[3] and officers will be told of this color at the precinct before they start work.[1] The system is for officer safety and first started during the violence of the 1970s and 1980s in New York City.[3]

Purpose

New York City is a city with a population of over 8,310,000,[4] with over 18,800,000 people[5] living in the surrounding area. An extra 500,000 people enter the city during a weekday.[6]

The color of the day system is about officer safety. With so many armed officers in the city, undercover police officers need to have an easy to use system to provide for discreet identification of plainclothes officers by uniformed ones. The system is in place to prevent friendly fire incidents from uniformed officers from mistakenly shooting plainclothed officers not immediately identifiable as police officers.


History

The now-defunct NYPD Street Crime Unit started in 1971. From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, crime in New York City was at record levels.[7] Undercover officers were asked to go into the New York City Subway and other such high-risk areas in plain-clothes or dressed as a homeless person as a decoy. Many of these officers feared that uniformed officers would mistake them for criminals in a use-of-force situation.[8]

Many of these officers would dress and pretend to be drunk, homeless, or act as decoy victims in order to catch muggers who were attacking those at-risk groups. The color of the day system was developed to prevent friendly fire incidents. In the beginning, colored headbands were given to each undercover Street Crime Unit member.

Other officers would be briefed on that color to allow them to quickly recognize the undercover officers, while the general public would not notice anything unusual. This began the "Color of the Day" system. Later they also used wristbands in a similar manner. Today's officers often dress in the color.

In popular culture

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fallis, Greg (1999). Just the Facts Ma'am: A Writer's Guide to Investigators and Investigation Techniques. Writer's Digest Books. p. 139. ISBN 0-89879-823-X.
  2. ↑ James, George (24 August 1994). "Police Agencies Share Rules for Recognition". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  3. 1 2 3 Krauss, Clifford (24 August 1994). "Subway Chaos: Officer Firing at Officer". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  4. ↑ "The "Current" Population of New York City (2007)". New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  5. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  6. ↑ "Census Bureau Releases First-Ever Data On Daytime Populations for Cities and Counties". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  7. ↑ "New York Crime Rates 1960 - 2007". The Disaster Centre. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  8. 1 2 Abel, Roger L. (2006). The Black Shields. AuthorHouse. p. 535. ISBN 1-4208-4460-1.
  9. ↑ Glass, Leslie (2003). A Killing Gift. New York: Onyx Books. p. 130. ISBN 0-451-41091-2.
  10. ↑ "Bad Faith". Law & Order. Season 5. Episode 20. April 26, 1995. NBC.
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