So another thing about cop forums - you know cops covering up their badge number? It's a thing, it's a definite thing, and it's definitely a bad thing.
But it's... interesting... how cops talk about it, among themselves.
And what they blame us for not knowing.
But it's... interesting... how cops talk about it, among themselves.
And what they blame us for not knowing.
You've seen cops who have their badge number covered but their name is visible and also they have a number on their helmet?
Those cops aren't *necessarily* trying to hide their identity and failing badly. The "mourning bands" aren't *purely* an excuse for obfuscation.
Those cops aren't *necessarily* trying to hide their identity and failing badly. The "mourning bands" aren't *purely* an excuse for obfuscation.
To a lot of big departments, the numbers on the shields are arbitrary and random and don't correspond to the actual internal "badge numbers" they use - because the shields are expensive to fabricate and sometimes basically handed out at random, can't keep up with system changes.
This is, it seems, a source of *some* (not all) stories where a cop gives their badge number and it doesn't match what is visible, or a person writes down a badge number and is later told that no officer with that number exists or was present that day.
Now to be very clear before I get deeper with this - I am not defending cops. This practice is itself obfuscatory. The "badge number" that cops care about for these departments is written on their credentials and thus you have to ask to see it.
And meanwhile there is a completely arbitrary, largely useless piece of apparently identifying information that is prominently on the badge that is clearly visible.
It's like bait. The illusion of easy accountability.
It's like bait. The illusion of easy accountability.
And it's not that the number on the shield is useless for identification, I would bet more departments know who is wearing which shield than don't though it seems like some really don't even care. But it's an extra step for looking them up...
...and if you've got a situation where "badge number" means one thing to the public and another to the police department when they go to make an inquiry or complaint, that's another barrier to getting resolution.
But this, even on top of the brazenness of refusing to be accountable to anyone, is part of how they can just be so cavalier about standardizing a form of expression like a "mourning band" that covers the shield - to them, the number is pointless and we're ignorant for caring.
And more than giving anybody an Explainer on badge numbers (the meaning and nature of which is going to vary by locality so take everything here as being generalities, not specifically useful information), my point here is about the insular culture of copping.
I've talked about breaches of the public trust and this is one. The police as an institution know that the public doesn't "get' their internal ID systems or how they use certain terms, but they don't see the need to fix it. They take advantage of it to avoid accountability...
...and to convince themselves that criticism is the fault of "us", the public, not getting it. Why, if we're so ignorant that we don't even know the badge number is on the credentials in their little portfolio, how can we offer any legitimate criticism? Civilians!
The insularity of policing is guaranteed to create this kind of "misunderstanding", over and over again, which to people on the inside of the sub-culture (emphasis on "cult") heightens the feelings of being at war, or of being apart from/above "civilians".
The number that tells the police who a given cop is, is inward facing. All we have access to is an indirect reference point, a number that may say who a piece of equipment was checked out to, if you have access to the right system.
This is not an accident. It's by design.
This is not an accident. It's by design.
And when this causes confusion, instead of clearing it up, the cops snort with indignation and roll their eyes at the know-nothing "civilians", and take solace in the fact that only other cops can know what they go through.
