Durham Police Badges- A Quick History

Police badges are pretty collectible. And the older they are, the more folks want them. Durham has worn several different badges throughout the years, just like other departments. And like other departments the styles vary widely from the original piece of tin or cooper to the new lacquered badges. Values range for Durham police badges, from $200 to about $40. Across the net values for different badges range from thousands of dollars (for gold inlaid) to around $40. There are many badges worth even more, and eBay is full of them. Many departments used generic badges made by just a few different companies, and often the only differences are wording and state seals. A word of warning here: those badges marked with a fox stamp can be fakes. While Fox was a real badge company, there are many brass old west badges floating around which are reproductions. They were made by International Engineering in Wilmington California from the 70s through the 90s for the collector market.

To my knowledge no one has ever reproduced or has plans to reproduce Durham Police badges. There are, however, reproductions of the old "tobacco leaf" patch. Also, be cautious of gun show folks selling Durham Police stuff. Especially the uniform shirts are not always correct and are made up uniforms using old stock shirts and possible repro patches with incorrect period badges.

Enjoy the post below. The only badges missing are the supervisor badges from the teens through 1970 and the Public Safety badge which looks exactly like the current police badge.



This badge is one of the first (if not the very first) badge worn by Durham Police. It is typical of badges worn during the time and was mfg by CD Reese of 57 Warren St, NY, NY. Reese was a prolific badge manufacturer, and made different social and police related pins and badges. I can't find much out about the company and have no idea when it shut down.




The photo above, courtesy www.durhampolice.com, shows the Reese badge being worn. There was a supervisor badge worn during the period, which is totally different, which I have no pictures of. There were few in existence, as Durham was still a fairly small force.



Sometime around 1930, Durham went to this police badge. They are not marked on the back, although there is a patent stamp on it. It may be one of many manufactured by H. Buchlein of Newark NJ. To the best of my knowledge Buchlein was purchased by Smith & Warren, a very large manufacturing company. Buchlein was an old company (mid 1800's), and was moved upon purchase to Smith & Warren's facility in White Plains, NY. This particular style of badge was pretty popular across the nation during that time, there are numerous examples still floating around the internet for sale. This badge style was worn until 1970, when the police and fire departments were merged in one big experiment to form Durham Public Safety.



This badge above is an example of a hat badge from that period. Note the wear on the pin itself. Unlike today, officers once almost always wore their uniform caps when outdoors, and that was a good amount, considering many still walked a beat.



And the ultra rare "reserves" badge. Police reserves still exist in the department, and assist with events, such as parades.



In 1970 Durham became a public safety city. Note that the badge didn't change much.If you check the Durham Police website you'll see that they state that this badge was in service until 1985. It was not. This badge was changed somewhere close to 1980, and the badge design was identical to the current badge, but said "Public Safety" on it instead of "Police".



The badge above is a public safety supervisor badge. Note the gold tone of the badge of the blue enamel inlay, as opposed to the silver tone badge and black inlay. Durham continues to use gold tone badges and hat badges for the rank of Sgt and above. Officers and Cpls are still nickel (or silver tone).



The corresponding hat badge for the first design of the public safety badges. Note that deep royal blue enamel on the badge. It is just as bright in person. Badges for the rank of lieutenant and above had the same blue pattern, but had the actual rank inscribed.



As stated, around 1980 or so (I need to confirm an exact date, it is work in progress) Durham went to this larger badge style. It is twice the size of the older style badges, and it much more visually striking. In 1985 the police and fire departments were separated again, and Durham went back to having a regular police badge. Officer badges are, as stated above, two tone, while ranks above Sgt wear a badge that it fully gold toned. Note the abandoning of the NC seal and the integration of the tobacco leaf design, which was formerly worn on the patch until the public safety merger (patches are a whole other post). It is also the City of Durham's seal. The new badges are solid backed badges (as opposed to the hollow back worn since the turn of the century). They are currently made by the Entenmann- Rovin Co (http://www.entenmann-rovin.com) of Los Angeles, CA.



A current hat badge. Note again the tobacco leaf seal.





Finally we come to the only specialty badge (to my knowledge) produced by the Durham Police Department. Known as the "Millennium Badge", it features a color splash of red, white and blue. It was worn only for year, in celebration of the millennium. They were available by private purchase, and many have the unit numbers of the owners embossed on them (for example "Motor-5" or "TACT-1". (Photo from www.durhampolice.com). Unlike the current badges, it has a hollow back, and has a bit less curve than the current badge. The bottom pic shows a Sgt badge.