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Last updated on Wednesday, July 26, 2017
(BLOOMINGTON) - To unify all divisions, Indiana University police officers across the state will be donning a new patch on their uniforms starting this month.
Inside IU reports, the new red, black and white patch represents the IU brand and will replace the former gold star. Because the gold star typically represents auxiliary sheriff's deputies, it wasn't inclusive of all the units within the IU Police Department.
"One of my main goals has been to rebrand the IUPD to be more on-brand with the overall institution," said Benjamin Hunter, IU's superintendent of public safety. "This new patch was one of many versions, and it was chosen unanimously by the officers."
Logan Doyle, an IU student and intern in the Office of Public Safety and Institutional Assurance, designed the new patch after receiving ideas and suggestions from IU police officers systemwide.
Doyle, who is double majoring in informatics and graphic design, said it was both a privilege and a challenge to design what he sees as the "face" of IU's law enforcement team.
"The feedback from officers was mainly concerned with creating a patch that conveyed a professional, respectable but also approachable presence," he said. "It was a process of the officers and myself determining not only what they wanted out of the patch but, more importantly, what would be communicated to the students."
In addition to the new patch, officers will have the choice to wear a summer uniform of shorts and a polo. This option will not only be more comfortable for the officers working in the heat of the summer, but Hunter is hoping it will make them more approachable, as well.
"That's important for us, as we serve our students, faculty and IU community," Hunter said
By the end of July, all officers will be wearing uniforms with the new patch and have the option to wear the cooler attire.
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