San Antonio Police History Archive

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: Large shield, silver in color. All metal with painted etchings. Some examples are a dull silver plating, some are mirrored. Chain etching around edge. A centered number framed by three leaves on each side. One print word CITY etched in concave raised arc above the number and one print word POLICE, etched in a convex arc, below the number. USAGE: Worn on exterior of the uniform, upper left chest by all Foot and Mounted (horse) Officers and some Traffic Officers. No evidence of use by Motor Officers. PERIOD OF USE: 1901-1929.

TYPE: Badge of Office. Carry. This badge was probably carried by civilian members of the police department assigned to duties as Taxi Inspectors. DESCRIPTION: A reduced size replica of the uniform supervisor’s (gold tone) badge. The example has the lettering “inked” in black. The center area has a solid block with the letters INSP. PERIOD OF USE: Hack/Taxi control and inspection fluctuated as a responsibility of the police department for more than 100 years. The photo is of a reduced size replica of a badge type (SK33) that came into use in 1933 and continued until 1984.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department assigned as “Traffic Officers.” Such duty entailed assignment to a static post (such as an intersection) or small area (such as a short street, construction site or parking area) for the control of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. DESCRIPTION: All metal. Usually silver in color. There are at least four distinct derivations of the badge.          This is an example of Traffic Badge derivation one (TBd1). The badge has a separate piece in the image of the Alamo Chapel at the top of the badge. The chapel rests upon a horizontal bar which have the words SAN ANTONIO the bar extending past the walls of the chapel and soldered to the lower shield at the end points. The shield has two banners, one concave with the word TRAFFIC and one convex with the word POLICE, above and below the center area where the numbers are faced. The shield was originally cast with an eagle at the top. The eagle and the center point of the shield have been roughly and not entirely removed from the shield and the chapel building and bar simply attached. The remains of the claws of the eagle can just be seen beneath the letters of SAN ANTONIO.

TYPE: Cap/Hat piece. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: All metal. Usually a copper tone in color. Some examples have letters and/or numbers painted black. The piece is rectangular. It is topped with an eagle in flight facing left as viewed. Directly above a five-pointed star within a circle. Two groups of feathers act as columns on each side of the circle. A convex banner runs across the piece below the circle with the words SAN ANTONIO. A bar below the banner has the word POLICE. This is the same for all the pieces. Below the bar is a rectangular area upon which metallic numbers could be affixed and those numbers would correspond to the officer’s badge number. There are two known photographs with examples of letters spelling out job positions, instead of badge numbers, being placed on the hat piece. Photograph #18 of Officer W.R. Porter (1925) with the word BICYCLE on the hat piece. The other is photograph #15 of Officer Lonnie Crow (1927) with the word CHAUFFEUR on the hat piece. Officer Crow was the emergency car driver. PERIOD OF USE: 1915 to 1929.

Traffic Officer David Bradshaw wearing what appears to be a TBd2. See #11.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed Motor Officers of the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: All metal, usually silver in color, diamond shaped with elaborate exterior scroll work at each of the four points. Within the diamond is a close but not exact copy of what would become the seal of the City of San Antonio, designed in 1925. The badge does not reproduce the letters within the city seal that spell TEXAS between each of the five points of the central star and the narrow banner that has LIBERTATIS CUNABULA has been replaced with a wider banner that reads MOTOR POLICE. USAGE: These Badges are examples of the badge worn by motorcycle officers on the exterior of their uniform, upper left chest. In March 1927 the legislature of the State of Texas amended the laws on the prosecution of speeding. No peace officer could arrest for the violation of speeding UNLESS he was dressed in a “cap, coat and trousers of a dark grey color” (dark blue was added in 1929) AND wearing a badge that is “diamond-shaped” AND he could only pursue a speeding vehicle with a motorcycle. These requirements came to an end in 1931 with SCOGGINS v THE STATE OF TEXAS, in which appeals court judge Offa Shivers Lattimore excoriated the legislature for such silliness. PERIOD OF USE: 1927-1931.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed Motor Officers of the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: All metal, usually silver in color, diamond shaped with elaborate exterior scroll work at each of the four points. Within the diamond is a close but not exact copy of what would become the seal of the City of San Antonio, designed in 1925. The badge does not reproduce the letters within the city seal that spell TEXAS between each of the five points of the central star and the narrow banner that has LIBERTATIS CUNABULA has been replaced with a wider banner that reads MOTOR POLICE.USAGE: These Badges are examples of the badge worn by motorcycle officers on the exterior of their uniform, upper left chest. In March 1927 the legislature of the State of Texas amended the laws on the prosecution of speeding. No peace officer could arrest for the violation of speeding UNLESS he was dressed in a “cap, coat and trousers of a dark grey color” (dark blue was added in 1929) AND wearing a badge that is “diamond-shaped” AND he could only pursue a speeding vehicle with a motorcycle. These requirements came to an end in 1931 with SCOGGINS v THE STATE OF TEXAS in which appeals court judge Offa Shivers Lattimore excoriated the legislature for such silliness. PERIOD OF USE: 1927-1931.

TYPE: Badge of Office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department.DESCRIPTION: All Metal. Silver (patrolman/Police officer/Detective Investigator) or Gold (supervisor rank) in color. Badge produced by the Sun Badge Company (designated as P14 by the company) of Los Angeles, CA. It would appear to be an attempt at a replica of the SK33. It was introduced as a replacement for the SK33 by Chief Charles Rodriguez, SAPD, in 1984. Chief Rodriguez had recently been appointed to the SAPD from a law enforcement position in California. USAGE: Worn on exterior of the uniform, upper left chest, by all sworn members of the department when in service or command dress uniform. PERIOD OF USE: 1984 to present.

TYPE: Prestige Badge. Not issued by the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: All metal, Gold in color. A modified Simmang/Kilday (SK33) badge in gold (supervisor) tone. All lettering is in blue. The rank bar is outlined in blue. The SK33 was designed by Charles Simmang Jr. (a local engraver and die sinker) and Owen Kilday (Chief of Police, SAPD 1929-1939) in 1933. The concave banner reads FIRE & POLICE, the lower convex banner reads ELY I. BERGMANN and the rank bar in the center reads CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONER. PERIOD OF USE: Mr. Bergmann was Chairman of the Fire and Police Civil Service Commission during the early 1950s.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department assigned as “Traffic Officers.” Such duty entailed assignment to a static post (such as an intersection) or small area (such as a short street, construction site or parking area) for the control of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. DESCRIPTION: All metal. Usually silver in color. There are at least four distinct derivations of the badge. Traffic Badge derivation two (TBd2) of which this is an example, has the chapel and bar integrated into one piece. The words SAN ANTONIO do not extend beyond the width of the chapel. The chapel and name bar piece have two feathers or wings which act as soldering points to the lower shield which has the two banners, one concave with the word TRAFFIC and one convex with the word POLICE, above and below the center area where the numbers are affixed. This shield gives the appearance of being slightly less wide than the TBd1 and slightly taller. Photograph #6 shows Traffic Officer David Bradshaw wearing what appears to be a TBd2.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: All metal. Silver in color. Pin and open loop clasp on rear. This photograph depicts an excellent example of the badge. It is a medieval shield bordered with three interior progressive lines. The face of the shield is clear with a single script lettered word POLICE, slightly off-set to the left with an ornate first letter. USAGE: Worn on exterior of the uniform, upper left chest, by all sworn members of the department in the rank of Police Officer. PERIOD OF USE: 1880s to 1900.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: All metal. Silver (patrolman/police officer) or Gold (supervisor rank) in color. Pin and rotating clasp lock on rear. This photograph depicts an excellent example of the SK33 (Patrolman’s rank was later designated Police Officer) badge. The SK33 was designed by Charles Simmang Jr. (a local engraver and die sinker) and Owen Kilday (Chief of Police, SAPD 1929-1939) in 1933. USAGE: Worn on exterior of the uniform, upper left chest, by all sworn members of the department when in service or command dress uniforms. PERIOD OF USE: 1933 to 1984.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department assigned as “Traffic Officers.” Such duty entailed assignment to a static post (such as an intersection) or small area (such as a short street, construction site or parking area) for the control of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. DESCRIPTION: All metal. Usually silver in color. There are at least four distinct derivations of the badge Traffic Badge This example of derivation three (TBd3) appears to be very much the same size and type of lower shield as TBd1 with the exception that the Alamo Chapel and SAN ANTONIO bar together while physically separate from the shield, have been attached from behind with two vertical bars. The shield edging is not marred nor cut as on the TBd1. It appears that the badge consists of two separate castings that have been joined. USAGE: Worn on exterior of the uniform, upper left chest, by Traffic Officers. No evidence of use by Motor Officers or Patrolmen. PERIOD OF USE: 1915 to 1929

TYPE: Hat/cap piece. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: All metal. Silver in color for non-supervisor ranks. Gold in color for supervisor ranks. It is topped with an eagle with wings outstretched and head facing to its right. The eagle surmounts a shield decorated with elaborate scrollwork on its edges. On the shield is a circular device within which is a star, the origin of the device is unclear, however, its center point was officially mentioned in 1836, when George Childress introduced a resolution at the general convention that “a single star of five points” be recognized as the “peculiar emblem” of the new Texas republic. And that “every officer & soldier of the army and members of this convention and all friends of Texas, be requested to wear it on their hats or bosoms.” The circular device has the words SAN ANTONIO in concave across the top and POLICE DEPARTMENT in convex at the bottom. USAGE: Worn on front of cap/hat by all officers (except motor officers wearing helmets which bore an identical applique). PERIOD OF USE: First seen being worn only by Chief of Police Owen Kilday in 1929. By the late 1930s, worn by all ranks, all positions, in silver or gold tone, to the present.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department. DESCRIPTION: All metal, usually silver in color, diamond shaped with elaborate exterior scroll work at each of the four points. Within the diamond is a close but not exact copy of what would become the seal of the City of San Antonio, designed in 1925. The badge does not reproduce the letters that spell TEXAS between each of the five points of the central star and the narrow banner that has LIBERTATIS CUNABULA has been replaced with a wider banner that reads MOTOR POLICE. USAGE: These Badges are examples of the badge worn by motorcycle officers on the exterior of their uniform, upper left chest. In March 1927 the legislature of the State of Texas amended the laws on the prosecution of speeding. No peace officer could arrest for the violation of speeding UNLESS he was dressed in a “cap, coat and trousers of a dark grey color” (dark blue was added in 1929) AND wearing a badge that is “diamond-shaped” AND he could only pursue a speeding vehicle with a motorcycle. These requirements came to an end in 1931 with SCOGGINS v THE STATE OF TEXAS, in which appeals court judge Offa Shivers Lattimore excoriated the legislature for such silliness. PERIOD OF USE: 1927-1931.

Officer Lonnie Crow (1927), emergency Car Driver, with the word CHAUFFEUR on his hat piece. See #5.

Officer W.R. Porter (1925) with the word BICYCLE on his hat piece. See #5.

TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department assigned as “Traffic Officers.” Such duty entailed assignment to a static post (such as an intersection) or small area (such as a short street, construction site or parking area) for the control of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.DESCRIPTION: All metal. Usually silver in color. There are at least four distinct derivations of the badge. This example of Traffic Badge derivation four (TBd4) appears to be very much the same size and type of lower shield as TBd1 with the Alamo Chapel and SAN ANTONIO bar together but physically separate from the shield, making a two-piece badge. The shield edging is not marred nor cut as on the TBd1. This photograph of Traffic Officer E. Zinsmeyer, on the occasion of the debut of the new winter uniform in 1925, suggests that the Alamo Chapel and bar piece has been pinned on separately. The officer is also wearing a white hat and hat piece that was exclusive to Traffic and Motor Officers. USAGE: Worn on exterior of the uniform, upper left chest, by Traffic Officers. No evidence of use by Motor Officers or Patrolmen. PERIOD OF USE: 1915 to 1929.