Talk:NYPD Uniforms and Ranks/@comment-85.93.211.91-20170817144439/@comment-46125051-20200618163447

In addition to what is posted, the NYPD patch was introduced in 1971 (single only). In 1974 the department went to 2 patches. When Bratton put the NYPD back into the dark blue uniforms, very smartly he took the meter maids, school safety officers and traffic agents (civilian employees) and took them out of their brown uniforms and gave them the light blue version. This gave the impression that there were more officers on the street and was a great deterrant to crime. How ever Bratton did not come up with this idea - it was formulated by the late San Francisco Police Commander Isiah Nelson in 1987 when he took over police operations at Giants and 49ers games at the old Candlestick Park. He put the park's security guards into SFPD style uniforms which gave the impression of a much larger police presence at the games.