One-Adam-12, One-Adam 12, see the man...

[GaryS]

LAPD must not have had a lot of turnover back then....

I wonder if they did, or do, reissue badges?

Some small departments around here change badge numbers as people retire. The senior patrol officer always has Badge #1.

My agency (not police) doesn't reissue badge numbers. When I was promoted from EMT to paramedic, I was issued a new badge and that badge retired with me. I kept the old EMT badge and still have it.

I once met a NYPD motorcycle officer with badge #4. IIRC, he told me that the badge was his grandfather or maybe great grandfathers and when he got on the job, he was able to get that number. It's been about 15 years, so i don't remember the details, maybe someone from NYPD can either fill in the details or correct my memory.

 

[kbm6893]

I wonder if they did, or do, reissue badges?

Some small departments around here change badge numbers as people retire. The senior patrol officer always has Badge #1.

My agency (not police) doesn't reissue badge numbers. When I was promoted from EMT to paramedic, I was issued a new badge and that badge retired with me. I kept the old EMT badge and still have it.

I once met a NYPD motorcycle officer with badge #4. IIRC, he told me that the badge was his grandfather or maybe great grandfathers and when he got on the job, he was able to get that number. It's been about 15 years, so i don't remember the details, maybe someone from NYPD can either fill in the details or correct my memory.

Retired NYPD here. You could always request a shield number if it was family. If it was available it was yours. If it wasn't, the Shield Desk would send a request to the cop who had it for a voluntary switch to give the new officer the number. I know 2 cops who gave theirs up for the new recruit

Cops who are corrupt have their shield's actually taken out of circulation. Nobody will ever wear the sheild of a dirty cop. Shame really. How far back some of those go. I wonder who first wore mine and when? The current NYPD shield came about almost 100 years ago. So there are cops out there walking around with the same shield a cop walked the beat in around the turn of the century

 

[GaryS]

Thanks for the information.

Retired NYPD here. You could always request a shield number if it was family. If it was available it was yours. If it wasn't, the Shield Desk would send a request to the cop who had it for a voluntary switch to give the new officer the number. I know 2 cops who gave theirs up for the new recruit

Cops who are corrupt have their shield's actually taken out of circulation. Nobody will ever wear the sheild of a dirty cop. Shame really. How far back some of those go. I wonder who first wore mine and when?

 

[kbm6893]

Thanks for the information.

Funny thing is nobody really wanted a shield with less than 4 digits. Too easy to remember if somebody wanted to file a complaint and didn't have a pen. Cop I used to work with with shield number 12 used to always be the one that would get spotted. 15 cops on the scene and the complainant would always remember number 12! I wish mine was written in Egyptian hieroglyphics!

 

[Deputy50]

I believe LAPD did and still does reissue shield numbers upon retirements. LAPD would have had about 5000 police officers when the show ran. I suspect they gave Malloy a three digit number to show he was more experienced and as a take off of Joe Friday's 714 number.

Each LAPD officer has both a badge number and a separate serial number that follows them during their career. I have seen written other places where Malloy and Reed's serial numbers were consistent with the range that would have been issued to their respective graduating academy classes..

 

[SG-688]

Farrant and Safety Speed Clamshell

This thread needs more photos.



Right side checkered; left side smooth.


In other shots, the holsters on the bench are clearly Lewis pattern cross draws.

 

[S&W2244]

Thanks for posting. Sure brings back memories. One of my all time favorite TV cop shows.

 

[824tsv]

Nice pic's!

During Malloy's speech about the police car in the pilot episode, he states that there are two shotguns. One is in front as you describe, the other is in the trunk.

That is the only mention of two shotguns ever on the show. Even at shift change when Reed checks out a shotgun for the cruiser, he only gets one and it goes in the front.

I watched an early episode today on netflix from the 1st season where both Malloy and Reed have checked out shotguns and place one in the trunk and one in front of the front seat.

 

[Muley Gil]

WAY COOL! From one old badge to another. I cut my teeth on a Model 15 in the academy. Loaded from loops, not speedloaders! I still placed second out of 60 recruits.

I carried a 4" M19 that I had roundbutted to the Academy. I loaded from dropboxes, because speedloaders weren't authorized at the academy back then!

Shot NRA Expert too.

 

[stantheman86]

Great info!

The NYPD issues the SAME shields over and over? If the pin gets damaged, etc. do they repair them?

I remember watching "Brooklyn's Finest" and when Gere's character turned in his gear at retirement the guy threw his badge into a box that was already full of them.

 

[kbm6893]

Great info!

The NYPD issues the SAME shields over and over? If the pin gets damaged, etc. do they repair them?

I remember watching "Brooklyn's Finest" and when Gere's character turned in his gear at retirement the guy threw his badge into a box that was already full of them.

Yep. Same shields over and over. I guess if the loops on the back break they re-sodder it if possible but never heard of it. The pin is not part if the shield. There are two loops attached to the back. The shirt has two little slits that line up with the holes. You take the pin off and push the pin through the holes. The pin is just a giant safety pin that goes through the two loops and is then closed. Funny thing is that brings up memories. The only things the city issues you are shield, gun, cap device (matches shield. Those are not the same over and over again. They get lost all the time cause NY cops hate wearing their hats and lose them all the time) and vest. Everything else you pay for. I remember being told to bring 10 cents (dime only. No pennies or nickels and exact change only) to the swearing in day to pay for the pin. Cheap *******s!

Losing the shield was a major rip so most guys got a duplicate sheild made and left the original on their jackets in their locker. The dupe was legal because they were like 1/8 smaller all around. Not really visible to the naked eye. Some places made good ones others not so much. Guys looked at older guys dupes and asked where they got theirs. Mine looked perfect. So good that the day I retired I was sweating if I brought the real one to retire! While they were legal, the job did not authorize them. They out he shield in a mold on the desk to make sure it the right one. Then they thank you for your service and place it in a drawer. The movie Brooklyn Finest made it seem dark and cold. It wasn't that way

 

[Donn]

I remember watching Adam 12 with my grandfather, so this thread reminded me of him. But by far my favorite "cop" show was the short- lived "Crime Story" in the mid-80s.

That's two of us, Seven3. Crime Story was the best show on TV nobody watched, except us. I've got both seasons on DVD.

 

[safearm]

Some small departments around here change badge numbers as people retire. The senior patrol officer always has Badge #1.

That's how my department did it. We were assigned an ID number, and our badge number was based on seniority. As people retired, quit, etc., we all went through a badge swap. Our supply Sergeant also kept a couple of extra badges in case a badge had to be refinished. Generally that happened after a badge swap, when someone got a really crummy looking badge from one of the older guys.

We could purchase an extra badge with our ID number on it at our own expense; picture of mine is below:

 

[GaryS]

We got our badges via our uniform allotment with an authorization letter from our supply manager. We could have up to four, I think. Uniform shirt, outer garment, dress uniform, wallet.

We were unusual, if not unique, for EMS in that we we had take home portable radios, PPE gear, and other equipment. We weren't required to carry a badge and our ID off duty, but some of us did. The department tacitly encouraged us to stop and help off duty (in the city) and having a badge, ID, and radio helped that a lot. I usually left my portable in my truck so that I had it if needed. I used it on more than one occasion when a cell phone would have been too slow.

If anyone is really interested, I'll take a picture or scan of my badge. I got to keep one along with my dress uniform when I retired.

That's how my department did it. We were assigned an ID number, and our badge number was based on seniority. As people retired, quit, etc., we all went through a badge swap. Our supply Sergeant also kept a couple of extra badges in case a badge had to be refinished. Generally that happened after a badge swap, when someone got a really crummy looking badge from one of the older guys.

We could purchase an extra badge with our ID number on it at our own expense; picture of mine is below:

 

[LSP 972]

I loaded from dropboxes, because speedloaders weren't authorized at the academy back then!

We had the same restriction, although once you got to a troop you could carry/use speedloaders. Never did have that satisfactorily explained to me.

I hired on in 1978, and was issued Don Hume leather: a "regular" Sam Browne duty belt, Jordan "River" holster, double drop box, and a handcuff case. None of that sissy Velcro; all the items had by-God brass snaps! Including the belt keepers…

I was also issued this (the Hurst stocks came several years later; the gun came with your basic Goncalo Alves "target" stocks that would jam up a speedloader):

 

[BigBill]

Darn you guys are right I seen that dragnet show where McCord was a cop on it. I thought I was seening two shows.

There were a few shows I seen recently were McCord had a 6" barrel and Milner had a 4" barrel. I wonder who's idea that was.

Great post, great stories, great tv show.

There showing all these shows from this era on MeTv.

 

[OIF2]

I believe LAPD did and still does reissue shield numbers upon retirements. LAPD would have had about 5000 police officers when the show ran. I suspect they gave Malloy a three digit number to show he was more experienced and as a take off of Joe Friday's 714 number.

Each LAPD officer has both a badge number and a separate serial number that follows them during their career. I have seen written other places where Malloy and Reed's serial numbers were consistent with the range that would have been issued to their respective graduating academy classes..

Officers may purchase their badge now upon retirement; a "retired" banner is glued onto the top, above the rank. When you're promoted though, you gotta turn your Police Officer badge in and it's supposedly re-issued. The old "Policeman" badges aren't re-issued (politically incorrect), except to the old coppers that have lost their original "Policeman" shields. Most cops tend to "lose" their old badges upon promotion; there is a stack of blank reports (called "PIR"-preliminary investigation report) at the Personal desk for those cops that have "lost" their badges while boating at Lake Havasu (in AZ) on the weekend before being promoted to Sergeant or Detective.

Each rank has it's own number series; "Police Officer" badges are well into 5-digit numbers, because there's many more patrolmen than Dets or Sgts. Command Officers (CPTs, CMDRs, etc) are usually only in the double-digits. Not that many. The Chief has no number on his badge; just 4 stars.
Bob

 

[GaryS]

Most cops tend to "lose" their old badges upon promotion; there is a stack of blank reports (called "PIR"-preliminary investigation report) at the Personal desk for those cops that have "lost" their badges while boating at Lake Havasu on the weekend before being promoted to Sergeant or Detective.
Bob

That would be like the stack of "It must have happened on my day off because it was like that when I came in today" reports my agency used to have.

 

[Doug.38PR]

I respectfully disagree with that statement.

Disclaimer:
I am not a LEO, do not play one on TV, and did not even stay in a Holiday Inn last night ...

On a related note, the series went off the air in '75. How close was that to the time-frame that the LAPD went over to semi-autos (or jam-o-matics as they are sometimes called)?

About 12-15 years. They started transitioning to Beretta 92s in 1988 after Lethal Weapon came out the year before and Officer Riggs told them "a lot of old timers" carry "six shooters" as he sprayed his way through the movie with his high capacity Beretta. Then of course there was the Army announcing that it was switching from the 1911 to the Beretta 9mm and the police wanted to imitate the military.

 

[Doug.38PR]

Adam-12 is a great show. I first came across it on TV Land about 12 years ago while visiting my grandmother. Came back and mentioned having seen a show with said title to mom and dad and dad's eyes lit up "that's a great show!".

I now have all 7 seasons.

Even in that show, you can see a transition in police thinking as it moves from season to season. Initially the police in the show are laid back, work with citizens, trust citizens (but are prudently cautious). In later seasons, there is one episode that has a training scene that reenacts the Newhall Shootout (to a T and very accurately) to demonstrate to trainees the errors that can occur in a shootout. They also preach in that episode about the need to be suspicious of everybody.