Public perceptions of police officers who wear pins or patches on their uniform

ABSTRACT Questions surrounding the display of pins and patches by police officers are receiving tremendous attention in Canada. However, no known research has explored how such accessories may impact public perceptions. To inform this discussion, we examined how 524 Canadians perceived an officer wearing various pins and patches. Participants rated eight photographs of the officer, once without any pins or patches and once when wearing each of the seven different pins or patches, on nine items (e.g., approachable, calm, competent). The results suggest that, compared to when wearing no pin or patch, the officer was perceived more positively when wearing the Breast Cancer Awareness pin, a Poppy, or the Gay Pride patch, but more negatively when wearing the Black Lives Matter or Punisher patch. We observed no significant effect for the Fallen Officer pin or the Thin Blue Line patch. We discuss our results with respect to research, policy, and practice.