The Banner That Says
Police Before You Do
Five designations, one deploy. Patented one-hand deployment from a belt pouch to 360-degree identification, built by a retired SWAT sergeant for the officer who is not in uniform when it starts.
Wear The Word That Fits Your Badge
Each designation is its own product, its own page and its own lettering. Pick the one your agency uses.
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Police
The origin line. Municipal and metro officers working plainclothes, task force or off duty.
View POLICE →
02 / 05
Sheriff
County deputies and investigators, where the arriving unit may be from a different agency entirely.
View SHERIFF →
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Marshal
Task force and fugitive work, where plainclothes is the default and local units arrive cold.
View MARSHAL →
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Officer
The general designation for agencies that do not use POLICE or SHERIFF on their identification.
View OFFICER →
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Constable
Constables and precinct officers whose title is not interchangeable with the others.
View CONSTABLE →The Color Is Engineering, Not Styling
Hi-visibility yellow-green was not picked because it looks tactical. It was picked because it is the most detectable color to the human eye across the widest range of lighting conditions, which is the same reasoning behind every piece of high-visibility safety apparel on a roadway.
That matters most in exactly the conditions where misidentification happens: low light, moving vehicles, headlights, and an officer approaching from behind. The banner sits across your torso rather than on a sleeve or a jacket panel, so it reads from every angle instead of one.
Law enforcement runs on three: high-visibility yellow, international orange, and high-visibility yellow checkerboard. Blue is a medical color and is not offered here, because a blue banner can blend into a dark backdrop at exactly the wrong moment. If the choice is yours, the high-visibility yellow-green is the one the science supports.
Then There Is The Lettering
Separate choice from the banner color, and it decides what happens when the light stops being helpful.
Best Contrast In Daylight
Blue on yellow is a very distinct pairing, and in daytime hours it reads hard and fast.
- Returns
- Direct light only
- Ambient
- Picks up nothing
The material is a direct-light reflective property. It answers a beam pointed at it, and it gives nothing back from the ambient light of a street or a room.
Still Works Once The Beam Is Gone
An indirect reflective material, so it gathers and returns ambient light as well as direct, at roughly 200 feet of visual acuity.
- Returns
- Direct and ambient
- Acuity
- About 200 feet
The black outline is what holds the letter shape against the yellow once the reflection is doing the work.
Worth knowing either way: every DSM Safety Banner has gray reflective edging, whatever the letters are, and that edging picks up ambient light on its own. So in direct light all three banners reflect. Take the direct light away and leave only ambient, and the gray letters are the ones still gathering it up.
Train The Draw Like A Reload
It has to happen without thinking, because in the moment it matters you will not be thinking. Two doctrines, and both belong in training rather than in the manual.
Deploy On Contact
The banner comes out as the weapon comes out. Identified before the first unit arrives, not after.
Deploy On Cover
Seek cover, tactically reload, and deploy. Solve your own survival first, then the recognition problem.
And Back In Again
Rolls back into its pouch in seconds, so you are ready for the next call rather than carrying a loose sash.
See The Deploy
What Else You Could Be Wearing
The honest version. Every one of these identifies an officer. The question is whether it identifies you from behind, in one motion, without a garment you have to already be wearing.
| DSM Banner | Jacket ID Panel | Armband | Raid Vest | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifies from behind | Yes, 360° | Front or back panel only | One arm, one angle | Front and back |
| Deploys one-handed | Yes, from a belt pouch | No, needs the garment on | No, two hands to fit | No, two hands, overhead |
| Carried, not worn | Belt pouch, always with you | Requires a jacket or carrier | Pocket-carried | Bulky, left in the vehicle |
| Back off duty | Yes | Impractical | Possible | No |
| Granted US patent | 8,191,748 B2 · to 2030 | None | None | None |
“We already have jacket panels. Why would we need this?”
Fair question, and often they are enough. The 5.11-style insert most agencies already own is a good piece of kit. It just answers a different question.
A panel only works if the jacket is already on, and it only shows on the side it is printed on. If you are in plain clothes, or the officer coming through the door is behind you, it is not there. That is the gap the banner fills, and it is not a knock on the panel. Neither is the calendar: from late spring through early fall it is not jacket weather, and in places like Florida it rarely is at all, so a panel does not fit every climate or season.
Outfitting A Unit, Not Just Yourself
If you came here from a squad-room recommendation and you are the one who signs for it, this is the route. Agency and bulk orders do not go through the retail cart.
Tell Us The Unit
Designations, colors, carry options and quantity. Mixed orders are normal. Detectives and patrol rarely want the same pouch.
Get A Written Quote
Bulk pricing in writing, with a W‑9 and the CAGE and UEI that a purchasing office asks for before it can raise a requisition.
Purchase Order
We accept agency purchase orders. Federal, state and municipal buyers are already on the books, multiple federal agencies among them.
Ship And Vet
Multi-address shipping so each precinct receives its own. Every order is vetted before anything leaves, including yours.
Judged By The People Who Carry It
It's Life Insurance on your hip!Ken HackathornPolice / Military Tactics Instructor & Gunwriter
I purchased them and have them in place with my lieutenants, detectives, school resource officer, myself and others ready for special events.Chief William L. HarveyEphrata Police Department
Not a single plain clothed officer was engaged whatsoever, even in a low light situation.CyrilLE Training · McKinney TX PD active shooter refresher
You Are Not Always In Uniform.
One hand, two seconds, identified from every angle. Vetted to a credentialed buyer every single time.