The Badge is Really a Shield

"Badge" may be the word we commonly use, but many police officers use the term "shield," and technically, they are correct in doing so. Modern police badges are the direct descendants of the warrior shields of ancient times.

And police badges today perform the function of a warrior’s shield all too often. Going back through the decades, there are countless stories of police officers’ badges deflecting weapons and even bullets. The badges are frequently credited with saving an officer’s life.

Such a story was reported just this week.

In Oakland, Tennessee, Officer Joshua Smith pulled over a vehicle in the early morning hours on Christmas Eve. During the stop the driver pulled out a gun and fired at the officer at point-blank range.

Officer Smith was wearing body armor – commonly but erroneously referred to by the public as a "bullet-proof vest." At point-blank range a bullet could penetrate the vest. Even if the vest stopped the bullet, point-blank impact could cause life-threatening injury. However, in this case the bullet struck the officer’s badge.

The impact bent the badge and knocked Officer Smith to the ground, but even so he was able to fire two shots of his own at the fleeing gunman. The officer was examined at a local hospital and released. Officer Smith has no doubt that in this case, his shield saved his life.

In 2007 an officer in New York City was attacked by a man with a kitchen knife. The knife struck the officer’s badge and shattered into five pieces. The New York officer, Stuart Ingram, later remarked that his shield probably saved his life. He too was wearing body armor, but body armor can be pierced by a knife.

Such episodes are not common but occur often enough to remind us of the origin of the term "shield" to describe a police badge.