Our Patch

The Travelers Rest Police Department uniform has featured many different shoulder patches over the years. To many police officers, the shoulder patch is so much more than simple decoration. Shoulder patches serve as a form of identification, department pride, and esprit de corps. Many officers spend years building extensive patch collections, participating in the time-honored hobby of trading patches with officers from other departments, both nationally and internationally.

Often, the patch design reflects the unique characteristics of the community in which the law enforcement agency serves. For instance, in our agency’s current patch there are several distinctive features. The mountain scene featured in the patch’s center seal depicts Travelers Rest’s beginnings as a stopover point for cattle drovers and covered wagons passing through our area in the early 1800’s.The bottom of the seal serves as a reminder of our department motto, “Honor, integrity, respect” which was chosen by our employees in 2007. Finally, the year at the bottom of the patch, 1891, is our best estimate of the founding of our police department based upon what little documentation exists.