Badge Photos

Buffalo City Police badges of various ranks. Most collectors of badges agree that Buffalo badges are some of the most beautiful police badges ever produced. The "raging buffalo" in the center sets the badge apart from any others. Notice that the earlier Buffalo badges had a "skinny" buffalo (used until around the 1930's) then a "fatter" and "more raging" buffalo was used.

This is a very rare Lieutenant rank set of what I believe is the 1st issue Buffalo badge, Circa 1871.

Skinny patroman rank #75. The clasp has been repaired at one time.

Here are 3 Buffalo Police Reserve badges. These are "re-ranked" badges the department made out of old patrolman badges. They are also have skinny buffalos which makes them pre 1934. The #57 badge had enamel applied instead of a panel over "patrolman", the other two had panels placed over it. Panels that say "Buffalo Police Reserve" were put over "Buffalo City Police". Buffalo reused many of their badges, sometimes for the reserves like these and many times to up grade to a higher rank. The eagle on this #40 badge has been broken.

Below are (3) Detective badges

A re-ranked Detective Sergeant, possibly made by King and Eisele of Buffalo NY but it is not hallmarked.

BACK-DET. SERGEANT

Above is a "Chief Desk Sergeant" badge. I've researched it and have not been able to find when the rank "Desk Sergeant" was used. Desk Lieutenant is the common rank found. This badge is also a re-ranked badge, and has lots of great wear on it to show it had been used for a long time. You can see "patrolman" at the bottom from the back, and a plate was placed over it.

A pair of Desk Lieutenant badges....

BACKS OF DESK LT. BADGES

Here are (5) Lieutenant badges. The one on the top left (#635) I bought cut in half-it had been cut by the department when they disposed of it years ago to prevent misuse. I had it put back together by a jewler who did a very nice job. This badge had also been re-ranked from patrolman.

BACKS OF LIEUTENANT BADGES

Captain #22 with alot of wear. "Tongue" style catch, probably used in the 1940's.

BACK OF CAPTAIN BADGE

Deputy Chief Rank, non-numbered skinny buffalo. It's really hard to come by early badges with high ranks like this one.

This is the latest addition to my collection, a Commissioner's badge that belonged to Commissioner Frank N. Felicetta himself. It was given to me by his grandson, Cpl. Frank Felicetta III who is a deputy sheriff in Florida. I am very grateful to Frank for allowing me to add this to my personal collection, not only because the rank of commissioner is so tough to find from Buffalo but also to know what commissioner actually wore it. Commissioner Felicetta served in that capacity twice-January 1st, 1958 to December 31st, 1961 and then his second term was January 1st, 1966 to April 15th, 1973. I extend my warmest thanks to the Felicetta family for allowing me to obtain this special badge.

Back-commissioner badge

Bureau of Communications Asst. Chief hat and breast set

Detective Sergeant hat and breast badge set.

Chief of Homicide set

This badge is called a "wagon wheel" badge. The City of Buffalo seal is in the middle of the wheel as you can see. The Department made a brief switch to this style badge in the 1940's, because there were "too many of their badges available to the public". However, the guys didn't like the badge and besides that the enamel fell out easily (as can be seen on this badge between "police and Buffalo") so the department switched back to the roaming buffalo style.

Buffalo Police "Buffalo Motorist Reporter" badge #10. It has an early wire pin catch and no hallmark. This is another badge I can't find any information on.

Here are a pair of "King and Eisele Co." Buffalo badges. Buffalo badges are rarely hallmarked with a maker, and King and Eisele where one of the two makers who hallmarked Buffalo badges that I've found. King and Eisele was a "jeweler and silversmiths" shop in Buffalo. These badges are probably the highest quality Buffalo badges ever made. Aside from the hallmark, they have a solid back, not a pressed or hollow appearence when you turn them over. The badge pictured on the right has been in a wallet from some time and has alot of wear.

A Buffalo patroman badge that was in the process of being re-ranked by the department when they stopped for some reason. "Patroman" was ground down nearly smooth but is evident from the back.

Examples of some of the harder to find Buffalo "special police " badges. On the top are two from around the turn of the century that are "stock" badges that could have been ordered right out of a catalog without any custom work required. They came with wire pin catches. On the bottom is a "City of Buffalo Street Inspector D.P.W. Special Police" badge and another style with "special" in the eagle's banner.

On the top row are "retired" badges issued by the Erie Club and the Buffalo PBA to officers who retired from the department. In the second row are badges with civilians names on the bottom- where a rank would normally be. These badges were not issued by the department to actual officers, but were given to people back in the old days who were business owners or citizens the police commissioner was friends with. These "named" badges are no longer given away by the deparment and have not been for many years now. On the bottom row are the small "pass badges" that were given to civilians when they donated to the PBA. Also shown are small Buffalo "mutual aid" badges that were given to donors of the Buffalo PBA . All of these badges, except retired badges, are from old days gone by and no longer used.

Buffalo special and reserve police badges.... The Buffalo special and reserve police are still in operation today. The "specials" still carry the same style badges. Both these badges are relatively common on the collector market. The hard to find special police badges are those with eagles on top. The reserve badges with the eagle on top are very common in collector circles....

This is a nice collection of one old officer's badge, identification photo and other membership cards.

Here are some "bumper badges" used in Buffalo. The one of the left is for a member of the "100 Club" which is a great organization still in operation today that assists the families of fallen police and fire heros from the Buffalo area. The one in the middle is an original bumper badge (#1) used on a high official's vehicle from the department around the 1930's. To the right of that is a very nice reproduction of one of these hard to find bumper badges.

Examples of awards that were issued to Buffalo Police officers. The one on the top is an "Honorable Mention" issued by the department for outstanding performance by an officer. The five medals on the bottom were given by the Erie Club to an officer who won various sporting events at an event in 1928- bronze, silver and the gold.

Here is a "Higgins Pocket Gallery" that was printed in Buffalo and used by Buffalo's finest prior to the day of in car MDTs. Below that are a few BPD rule books from 1897,1932 and 1946. These are great for learning history of the department and some of the rules are still applicable to policing of today......

Reproduction Buffalo Badges

There are several variations of reproduced Buffalo badges for collectors to be aware of. One of these is the "Gode" which is gold in color and has a "skinny" buffalo in the center and has a number 20 at the top. These are easily identifiable as a repro because they have a solid shiny back, look new and have the GODE hallmark on the back which is a crowned "G". The next is currently available on the internet, is made of a cheap metal and the numbers at the top are stamped in block numbers-it is not hard to tell they are repros but scans via email can look "good" if you dont pay close attention. The last repro I'm aware of is the Langenbacker. The Langenbacker is a very well made reproduction of the Buffalo badge. On close inspection of the back of the badge it is very shiny and smooth, not the way a legitimate badge would appear. But, there is a nice old "patina" applied to the Langenbacker which makes it look "old". There is no Hallmark from the maker. The easiest way to tell if it is a Langenbacker is the #348 at the top. All Buffalo Langenbackers had this number.

Front of the Langenbacker Reproduction

Rear of the Langenbacker

Police call box that was used and manufactured in Buffalo

These community service officers had thier picture taken in front of the Albright Knox Art G