New "Old" badge

[speagle]

Found this on the first day of our month-long vacation

I believe it is an older version. I think the blank space was used to add the officer's name and/or badge number once assigned.

ALSO got an old billy club (nothing special) but my wife said I could get it I'll post a pic of it later.

Ed

[Mervyn Mitton]

Ed - do you think it might be from that dreadful period in the 60's/70's when they used those plastic tape machines to do names ? Well made badge, but the gap has to be for a reason.

General Question - do any of our members have a 'normal' holiday or, is the entire time spent 'looting' the local shops ? (p.s. I ask out of curiousity - I do exactly the same..........)

[Hauptmann]

General Question - do any of our members have a 'normal' holiday or, is the entire time spent 'looting' the local shops ? (p.s. I ask out of curiousity - I do exactly the same..........)

Generally the first thing we do whenever we get settled into hotels on a vacation trip is to go through the phone book for listings for antique stores, surplus stores, militaria shops, coin shops, etc. We also ask around, check out any flea markets if we're there at the right time and just generally keep on the alert for such things. And of course since the advent of laptops, wireless, etc., we're also able to check things out on the web. Sadly most places we've been haven't had a ton to offer in the way of militaria or surplus stores but it's always something we try to work in along the way. Of course the whole family loves history so alot of what we do is check out old battlefield and historic sites, museums, etc., on our vacations. With the exception of when we went somewhere like Disney World.

Dan

[Randy L]

The blank space was used for the name of the base/installation that the DOD cop was employed at (e.g., Fort Monmouth, Brooklyn Naval Shipyard, etc.). (I was a DOD police officer many years ago).

Found this on the first day of our month-long vacation

I believe it is an older version. I think the blank space was used to add the officer's name and/or badge number once assigned.

ALSO got an old billy club (nothing special) but my wife said I could get it I'll post a pic of it later.

Ed

[speagle]

The blank space was used for the name of the base/installation that the DOD cop was employed at (e.g., Fort Monmouth, Brooklyn Naval Shipyard, etc.). (I was a DOD police officer many years ago).

Thanks Randy,

Might you have any pics, or know where I could look to see, of the badge with the space filled in?

Thanks again for the info

Ed

[Randy L]

Sorry, don't have any photos. The base name was engraved in the blank space, with the lettering filled in with black paint. This particular style of badge was used from the 1970's into the 90's. There were also versions marked "Supervisor" and "Chief." This was the centrally-issued DOD Police badge that was provided to all installations, but it's use wasn't mandatory. Many installations' DOD Police units designed and used their own badges (a variety of different styles were used).

Thanks Randy,

Might you have any pics, or know where I could look to see, of the badge with the space filled in?

Thanks again for the info

Ed

[Randy L]

Here's a photo I found on the web of an older version of the DOD (I think 1970s) showing how the base name was engraved.

[speagle]

Thanks Randy,

Very interesting. I am now curious when/if they changed the badges to "DOD Police" vs. "Special Police" as in your photo, or perhaps these were, in fact, "Special" detatchments for specific classified projects.

As Sgt Schultz would say-----"Verrry Interesting!" :-)

BTW: Can you send me the link to where you got your oics please.

Thanks again for the info

Ed

[Randy L]

In the 1950s through the 1970s, most federal civilian police (Career Series 0083) employed by the various federal agencies (DOD, Veterans Admin, GSA/Federal Protective Service, Library of Congress, etc.) were defined in the statutes as "Special Police" (some DOD police units on Army and Navy bases were referred to as "Security Police"). As an example, Title 40 United States Code, which established the powers of the Federal Protective Service, stated that the Commissioner of the General Services Administration has "the authority to designate certain employees as Special Police for the purpose of protecting life and property at facilities under the control of GSA". By the 1980's, when I started my career as a Veterans Administration Police Officer and then a DOD cop on an Army base, the terms Special and Security had been removed from the books and 0083's were referred to simply as Police Officers, with badges and patches being changed to the new title. (As a reference, in the federal govt Career Series - similar to military MOS - for law enforcement positions, Series 0085 is Security Guard; 0083 is Police Officer; 1811 is Criminal Investigator/Special Agent. Federal park rangers, corrections officers, and conservation/wildlife officers have their own career codes, which I don't recall at the moment). Currently, within the fed govt, the term "Special Police" is only used for private security contractors hired by an agency who are commissioned with limited police powers when on duty at their assigned facility (an example would be the security staff at the National Archives - who protect the Declaration of Independence among other items - who are called the National Archives & Records Service Special Police).

[Brian Wolfe]

Ed - do you think it might be from that dreadful period in the 60's/70's when they used those plastic tape machines to do names ? Well made badge, but the gap has to be for a reason.

General Question - do any of our members have a 'normal' holiday or, is the entire time spent 'looting' the local shops ? (p.s. I ask out of curiousity - I do exactly the same..........)

We are a sick bunch, Mervyn. Vacations are perfect times to hunt for collectables as you are usually in places you would not normally be.

In most cases you would have to put "ab" in front of the term "normal" to best describe most collector's vacations.

Regards

Brian

[Randy L]

Here are better pics of the 1970's Special Police and the 1980s-1990s Police versions.

[Randy L]

And here's the current version.

[speagle]

Thanks again Randy.

Any chance you might have an extra one of the current ones (or know somebody who would trade?) I just flat out refuse to buy stuff (unless I find it in an antique store of course :whistle:

[Mervyn Mitton]

I like the new one - but perhaps a little 'plasticky' however, it is very clear and probably better when you can hold it. I still think the original 'special police' had a nice look - typical of the old American styles. Mervyn

[Mike Dwyer]

Not all Department of Defense facilities use the same badge that Randy L posted. Very nice badge, Randy. There's a Navy base just down the road from me and they use a completely different style badge that's more oval shaped.

[speagle]

Hey Mike,

How about taking a stroll "down the road" and see if you could pick up an old one (or perhaps just a cloth one :-)

Never know-tell them it's for a retired cop's collection.

Thanks

Ed