Name tags are helping with transparency and providing security!
Recently name tags made the news! Did you see the report about police officers and emergency personnel using personal identification to make others feel at ease? What a great way to give us all a sense of security. Officers are accomplishing this by simply wearing a name tag.
Excerpts from The Boston Globe:
“The public should know our names,” Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said during an interview on WGBH’s Boston Public Radio this past week.
“Body cameras and name tags are a way to show transparency and accountability in these challenging times,” Evans said.
“An officer is not just a number, but a person. (And knowing an officer’s name) “makes that individual more human. It humanizes a situation,” said J. Larry Mayes, one of three members of the Civilian Oversight Ombudsman Panel, which reviews Internal Affairs investigations.
“(Commissioner Evans) began this process earlier this year as a way to increase transparency and trust,” Lieutenant Detective Michael McCarthy, police spokesman, said in a statement.
McCarthy said that command staff and superior officers have already begun wearing tags with their last names.
Patrol officers in other major police departments, including New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles, have worn name tags for decades. Massachusetts state troopers also wear name tags. (Boston Globe)
While not everyone enjoys wearing a name tag while at work, most organizations and companies find them necessary for communication and security reasons. However, whether or not to use a name tag in these situations is not necessarily an easy answer.
In many situations, certain levels of personal identification are needed. Using identification provides a service to consumers. It may also provide a sense of security. Overall, name tags are proving useful once again. A great thing about using name tags is that wherever they are worn, they can create a warm, inviting atmosphere.