Famous for being the site of a spacecraft crash in 1947, Roswell, New Mexico has become a mecca for people fascinated by extraterrestrial phenomena. So it’s only fitting that the city’s police department has uniform patches that are out of this world.
The new patches, which were unveiled Friday, feature the city’s official logo of a flying saucer with a classic beam radiating downward to form the letter “R.” The words “Protect and Serve Those That Land Here” form a circle and are separated by two small alien faces with big eyes.
Police Chief Lance Bateman said the department recently ordered an initial batch of 500, with the first ones expected to be distributed this week. The transition to the new patch is expected to be complete later this year.
Bateman said there had been discussions for some time about discontinuing the previous patch, which had served the department for more than 30 years. When he took office last summer, that was some of the feedback he received from supporters, so he went ahead with the idea.
Employees submitted about a dozen designs, most of which contained some references to UFOs and aliens. Top Brass narrowed that down to four finalists, and employees voted for the winner – designed by Support Services Sgt. Trong Nguyen – in January.
“It was a clear favorite,” the chef told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday.
The new patch also includes New Mexico’s official state symbol, which is based on the ancient Zia Pueblo symbol of the sun.
The patch’s unveiling came the same day the federal government sought to address claims that have drawn public attention for decades. A Pentagon study released Friday found there is no evidence of extraterrestrials or extraterrestrial intelligence, a conclusion consistent with previous U.S. government efforts to assess claims.
For those in Roswell, it has become a way of life, as thousands of people gather there every year to visit the International UFO Museum and Research Center, or attend the annual UFO Festival. Aliens and UFOs are plastered all over corporate tents around town.
“At some point you kind of embrace it,” said Bateman, who was born and raised in Roswell.
Besides the new patch being just plain cool, the chef said he hopes it will foster more community relations. There are now more human resource officers at Roswell Public Schools, and Bateman said he and fellow officers often try to greet students on their way to school in the morning.
“They have done a fantastic job for the community,” Bateman said of the police department. “I think we’re only going to get better, and this will only make it better. It opens conversations for the citizens and for us.”
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Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
