Color of the day (police)

The color of the day is a signal used by plainclothes 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. It is used by the New York City Police Department and other law enforcement agencies.^[2]^[3]

A plainclothes 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 police station before they start work.^[1]^[4] The system is for officer safety and first started during the violence of the 1970s and 1980s in New York City.^[3]

Purpose[]

The color of the day system is about protecting undercover officers. With so many armed officers in New York City, undercover police officers need to have an easy-to-use system to provide for discreet identification of plainclothes officers by uniformed ones.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

In popular culture[]

Color of the day is mentioned in Shawn Ryan's The Shield, Roger Abell's The Black Shields,^[7] Greg Faliis's Just the Facts Ma'am,^[1] and Leslie Glass' novel, A Killing Gift.^[8]
In Law & Order Season 5, Episode 20, "Bad Faith," Detective Lennie Briscoe identifies the color of the day as aquamarine when making an inquiry to the DMV.^[9]
Color of the day is mentioned in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes "Birthright",^[10] "Perverted", "Gambler's Fallacy", and "Manhattan Transfer".
Color of the day is also mentioned in Blue Bloods, Season 3, Episode 19, "Loss of Faith", when Frank Reagan says that every plainclothes officer will have the color of the day in full display, and in Season 10, Episode 19, "Family Affairs", when the same Reagan identifies the color of day they as green after noticing a green wristband worn by a NYPD plainclothes officer Joe Hill.
In NYPD Blue season 6 episode 8 "Raging Bulls" an undercover officer is shot by another police officer while not wearing the color of the day (red).
In Shooter (TV series) Season 1, Episode 1, "Point of Impact", Bob Lee Swagger (Played by Ryan Phillippe) recognizes a United States Secret Service agent (Isaac Johnson, played by Omar Epps) by their lapel pin which was the color of the day.

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ James, George (August 24, 1994). "Police Agencies Share Rules for Recognition". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Krauss, Clifford (August 24, 1994). "Subway Chaos: Officer Firing at Officer". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
^ Changes, Real and Imagined in the NYPD by Jim Fay ENN NYC-NJ Metro Correspondent
^ "NCJRS Abstract - National Criminal Justice Reference Service". www.ncjrs.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
^ "New York Crime Rates 1960 - 2007". The Disaster Centre. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Abel, Roger L. (2006). The Black Shields. AuthorHouse. p. 535. ISBN 1-4208-4460-1.
^ Glass, Leslie (2003). A Killing Gift. New York: Onyx Books. p. 130. ISBN 0-451-41091-2.
^ "Bad Faith". Law & Order. Season 5. Episode 20. April 26, 1995. NBC.
^ "Birthright". Law & Order. Season 6. Episode 1. September 21, 2004. NBC.

[facts-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c 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 (August 24, 1994). "Police Agencies Share Rules for Recognition". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2008.

[chaos-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Krauss, Clifford (August 24, 1994). "Subway Chaos: Officer Firing at Officer". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2008.

[4] Changes, Real and Imagined in the NYPD by Jim Fay ENN NYC-NJ Metro Correspondent

[5] "NCJRS Abstract - National Criminal Justice Reference Service". www.ncjrs.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-31.

[6] "New York Crime Rates 1960 - 2007". The Disaster Centre. Retrieved 2009-08-03.

[shields-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b Abel, Roger L. (2006). The Black Shields. AuthorHouse. p. 535. ISBN 1-4208-4460-1.

[8] Glass, Leslie (2003). A Killing Gift. New York: Onyx Books. p. 130. ISBN 0-451-41091-2.

[9] "Bad Faith". Law & Order. Season 5. Episode 20. April 26, 1995. NBC.

[10] "Birthright". Law & Order. Season 6. Episode 1. September 21, 2004. NBC.

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Color of the day (police)

Contents

Purpose[]

History[]

In popular culture[]

See also[]

References[]