The city of Mesquite is located on Interstate 15 about 70 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Mesquite incorporated in 1984 and the police department was formed in 1985. Police services were provided by Las Vegas Metro for the first year.
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This is the first patch, which was used from 1985 for about a year and half. The city clerk's (at that time) son designed the city seal, so the patch was changed to reflect the seal. The first chief of police was Arrvie Kelly. Kelly designed this first patch. Kelly's term ran from 1985 until 1990. This patch is pictured thanks to the Southern Nevada Metropolitan Police Museum | |
These next two patches were in use at the same time, and were just from different vendors. These patches were used from 1986 until 1991. These patches were put into use by Kelly and have the city seal in the center. It is uncertain who designed this patch. |
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In 1990, Mike Murphy became Chief of Police, and is still chief today. In 1991 Murphy redid the patch. The patch was brown and tan because the officers were still wearing that color uniform. | |
In 1992 the department went to the LAPD blue colored uniform. The patch was redone in new colors to match the uniform. This is a 12 color patch. The city seal depicts the mountains around the valley, the Virgin River, the Yucca tree which grows there, and the valley floor and fields of the area. The rope or 'Lariate' is to show their western spirit. | ![]() |
The city motto is Pioneering with pride and the department motto is Policing with pride. The bunting is to show patriotism, (the Gulf War was on when the patch was designed). The gold and silver are to represent the gold and silver in the state, and match the colors in the badge. The gold and silver are worn by all officers with no special colors for rank. |
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This is the badge patch. It has been in use since the inception of the department. The badge patch looks like the actual badge and is only worn on call out and jackets at this time. There are two different versions here. If you look at the very bottom, you will see that the one on the right has a small split, but it is manufactured that way. | ![]() |
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There are now two specialty patches for Mesquite, one of which is this K9 patch, and now the Animal Control falls under the control of the Police Department. This is one of about 25 that were made to commemorate the first K9 unit. The Bonky patch was only worn by the K9 officer on a call out jumpsuit and a raid vest. This patch was never actually a part of the uniform. To the right is the new AC patch. | ![]() |
I would really like to express a special thank you to Chief of Police Mike Murphy for the history of the Mesquite patches, and for history of his department!