I can recall (because I was employed by one at the time) when cash-strapped police forces in Ontario had to spend a lot of money changing hat badges, signage and letterhead from XX Police Force to XX Police Service in order to reflect their kinder, gentler approach to dealing with the public.
Around the same time, cruisers started being painted white with pretty multicoloured stripes on the side. The OPP's "menacing looking" black and whites became white with blue and gold stripes. Hamilton, like Toronto, switched from their hi-viz yellow, to white. Even the RCMP went from blue hoods and trunks with white doors, to the all white with the lovely rainbow stripes they have now.
This was partly, as I recall, to make the cars appear less intimidating to new immigrants.
And then, not long after, everyone starting switching from the classic dark blue wool trousers/light blue shirt and polished Sam Brownes and ankle boots to military style fatigues, combat boots, visible body armour (it used to be worn under the uniform shirt) and nylon duty belts festooned with new semiauto pistols, tasers, collapsible batons and various other unidentified paraphernalia.
So an inoffensive looking white car with "Police Service" emblazoned on the doors would pull up -and Robocop would get out of it.
The shift back to black and whites started a short time after that. If I remember correctly, the OPP was the first to go back and they also adopted the short-lived Stetsons that made them look like American state troopers.
Kinda makes you wonder...