150th Anniversary Historical Retrospective - the history of the BPD Badge
150th Anniversary History Project
January 2015
Badge History
In the late 1800’s municipal policing was evolving from models that featured Sheriffs and Constables. At that time the symbol of law enforcement, the badge, was most often some version of a star. In Burlington, the first Chief was Luman Drew, who also served as the County Sheriff.
In 2014, two vintage badges from the Department were located. The first, a clearly hand-stamped example, was given to the Department by Karen Bradley (daughter of former Chief Richard Beaulieu) from his collection. In the center of that badge is the number 10, believed to be the badge number.
The second historical example was given to the Department by Robert Resnik, long time staff member at the Fletcher Free Library, musician, artist, and historian. Robert found a badge similar to but clearly a different vintage than the one from the Bradley/Beaulieu family at a garage sale. It had been in his personal collection of historical memorabilia.
Historical records show that around 1910, the Department moved to a Boston-style “shield” badge, likely away from the star-type badges that these examples represent. In 2014, replicas of the star type badges were created for staff to wear during the year.
In the attached image, from left to right respectively, are the images of the historical examples and the replica.
Look for historical retrospectives throughout 2015 as we celebrate 150 years of service to the community!
Address/Location
Burlington, VT Police Department
1 North Ave
Burlington, VT 05401
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 802-658-2704