How do police officers get their badge numbers?

You can see by the variety of answers that the method and process of assigning badge numbers varies considerably from one agency to another. One method not mentioned, used in much of Oregon, is to use the officer's certification number, issued by the state. read more

The badge number doesn’t necessarily identify the officer. At Las Vegas Metro PD, the badges have no numbers visible (there is an inventory number on the back of the badge). Officers are identified by their “P-number” or personnel number, that are issued sequentially for each new hire. read more

Some agencies don't have badge numbers. One officer's badge looks exactly like every other officer's badge in the department. You will have to ask for the officer's name on scene, or do a Freedom of Information Act request for the "officer involved in a traffic stop at x location at x time on x date" to discover who the officer was. read more

By going to the town's archives or by searching at the police headquarters' archives you can find all officers employed and their badge numbers. Again, this will require a name in order to correlate with a number. read more