Custom police department polos sit between the duty uniform and the off-duty tee. They are the standard choice for command staff at community events, civilian agency employees (dispatch, records, evidence), recruitment fairs, Citizen's Police Academy instructors, and PAL coaches. Bear Grips Pro Shops offers both performance and cotton polos with embroidered agency seals at no minimum order.
Four polo cuts cover almost every agency use case:
Browse the full polo catalog for all available options.
Standard placement for a police department polo is the left chest, roughly four inches below the collar and centered over the heart. The embroidered seal usually runs 2.5-3 inches in diameter on a polo, which photographs cleanly and reads from across a recruitment booth without crowding the placket.
Optional secondary placements:
For multi-line text under the seal, stick with two or three lines maximum at small stitch counts. Anything more becomes a blur on body cam and event photography.
Bear Grips Pro Shops: Custom Apparel for Your Team. No Minimums. Free Shipping.Polos are the working uniform for civilian agency staff who do not wear a sworn duty uniform. Dispatchers, records clerks, evidence technicians, crime scene investigators, and victim services coordinators all benefit from a polished, clearly identified polo that does not look like sworn-officer apparel but still identifies them as agency personnel at depositions, community events, and inter-agency meetings.
A typical civilian agency polo program runs as follows:
Command staff polos follow a similar pattern but typically use the Sport-Tek Performance Polo (which travels and packs better for off-site meetings) with rank or title embroidered under the seal.
Two community-facing programs almost always order custom polos: the Citizen's Police Academy and the Police Athletic League. Both involve sworn officers and civilians working with the public in a non-enforcement role where a duty uniform would be wrong for the moment but a t-shirt would feel too casual.
Citizen Academy polos typically use the agency seal with "Citizen's Academy Instructor" or "Civilian Academy" under the seal. PAL coaches use the agency seal with "PAL Coach" or the specific sport (PAL Boxing, PAL Basketball, PAL Cycling) under the seal. Both programs benefit from a Sport-Tek performance polo because the wearer is often on their feet outdoors or in a gym all day.
For PAL programs that include youth participants, a matching youth t-shirt run from the same shop creates a coordinated look. Junior PAL cadets in a youth performance tee plus instructors in a matching polo turns a basic community program into a recognizable visible identity.
Polos follow the same order flow as every other shop product:
Most departments retail polos at $48-58 against a $34.88 base, leaving a $13-23 margin per polo. For departments that fund civilian agency staff polos directly, set retail equal to base and use the shop as an internal procurement channel.
Embroidered agency seals on performance and cotton pique polos. Command staff, civilian employees, and Citizen Academy instructors order their own size with no minimum required.
Start FreePerformance polos use moisture-wicking polyester and resist stains, sweat, and wrinkles. They are the better choice for outdoor recruitment events, SRO outdoor school posts, and PAL coaching. Cotton pique polos have a more traditional, dressier look and work better for civilian agency staff in office settings and Citizen Academy instructors in classroom environments.
Yes. Shop products can be configured to accept a custom name and title at checkout. Each polo is then embroidered with that officer's name in addition to the standard agency seal, with no separate minimum order required.
Yes. The catalog includes a Women's Premium Cotton Pique Polo from Gildan in the same heavyweight knit as the men's version. Women command staff, civilian employees, and instructors get a properly cut polo without size or fit compromises.
About one week from order to delivery for most US addresses. Embroidered orders sometimes add a day to production compared to direct-print orders, but free shipping is included on every order regardless of customization method.
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