Avon & Somerset Constabulary: June 2015

Warrant card holder wallet badge

This type of badge is fitted to leather warrant card wallets. Jeeves is a well established badge making company who supply Police Forces with these leather wallets in the UK. They are only available to serving Police officers as a private purchase and not standard issue. They are used to hold an officer's warrant card. Because these wallets are used for identification, they're not available for sale to the general public. However, similar leather wallets without the badge are widely available.

The badge used on these wallets is the same size as a cap badge. It differs in that it's shallower, with enamel in the crown and uses different fixings on the rear. Imitations using the standard issue cap badges are frequently seen on eBay. In the 1980's Special Constables with Avon & Somerset Constabulary were issued with warrant cards which were simply laminated pieces of card showing a photograph, name and warrant number.

The 'USA' style leather wallets began to appear for private purchase in the early 1990's. The early versions were black leather with just a badge. Current versions typically include a chrome metal bar with the word 'POLICE' and a second 'braille' bar. Some wallets are stamped with the word 'POLICE' in silver lettering or have the Police Force crest on the back. Warrant card wallets are very collectable and can attract values anywhere from £30-£100, even though they are only about £15 new. There are now other non-Police organisations producing similar style wallets, even though they aren't necessary as a form of identification. Genuine obsolete versions sometimes appear on eBay but most are imitations/fakes. Any current issue warrant card wallets which inadvertently find themselves on eBay are usually removed after a short time.

Here are two examples of warrant card wallet badges used by Avon & Somerset Constabulary. One has a makers mark shown on the reverse. The blue enamel is also a slightly different shade on each. One of which has the makers name of Toye & Co.

Avon & Somerset Constabulary warrant card wallet badges

Toye & Co. was established in 1686

Here's another variant of the warrant card wallet badge. This version is similar to the current issue cap badge but with a flatter profile so it can be attached to a leather wallet. The design is much simpler compared to the other two above and is attached by two central metal prongs which are covered with adhesive tape. I believe the maker of this version of badge and wallet could be Intramark.

Gold metal warrant card badge

This is a gold version of the warrant card badge with a plain back. I believe this version is probably used on warrant card wallets issued to senior ranks.

Here's a comparison between an older style enamel cap badge and the gold wallet badge.

Avon & Somerset Constabulary cap badge (left) and wallet badge (right)

This next badge is made from plastic. It's a sample badge which was never issued. It would most likely be worn on the breast. The rear fixing is the same type used by South Wales Police on their own plastic badges fitted to raincoats during the 1980's. The holes on the bottom section are intended to accommodate the officer's number, division and perhaps even name using small plastic numbers/letters with pegs. A variety of plastic badges including helmet plates were used during the 1980's with varying success. Although they were good representations of the metal equivalent, their lack of durability was an issue. No doubt also unpopular simply because they're made of plastic - often perceived as 'cheap and nasty'.

Pin badges

The male voice choir badge included below has a screw thread fixing but I've included it under pin badges for convenience.

Avon & Somerset Constabulary male voice choir badge

Avon & Somerset Constabulary bowling club pin badge

Avon & Somerset Constabulary Bowls club pin badge

Avon & Somerset Constabulary poppy pin badge

This rather elegant poppy pin badge measures 3cm x 3cm. These were available on eBay for £11.50 in June 2016. However, they can be purchased directly from the maker poppypins.co.uk for £10. This includes a donation to the Royal British Legion and postage within the UK. eBay is not always the cheapest option! It uses a traditional pin and clasp attachment on the reverse.

Another recent alternative version:

Tie pin badges

Here are some of those attributed to Avon & Somerset Constabulary. All these badges use the standard clasp and pin fixing seen in the last photograph.The first two are gold coloured, even though they appear silver in the close-up photographs.

A tribute to the Showerings company of Shepton Mallet who launched the Babycham drink in the 1950's

RUC apples

Bridewell Police Station tie pin

Avon & Somerset Constabulary Motoring Club tie pin

Small tie pin made by Jeeves, Liverpool

The maker is shown as PMTTS tietacs.org.uk

I believe this next pin badge is associated with Avon & Somerset Traffic Police.

Western Counties joint Air Operations Unit tie pin

Avon & Somerset Police Federation centenary pin badge

Badges such as this one below would be freely available at public relations events.

Avon & Somerset Constabulary 'promotional' pin badge

Rare helmet plate? Not quite. This badge is mounted on a wooden presentation shield. It's smaller than a standard issue helmet plate at about 11cm high and 10cm wide. The centre badge appears to be custom made by Jeeves and glued in separately. The whole wooden presentation shield was made by Jeeves of Liverpool. Whilst wooden shields are relatively common, they usually use a standard issue helmet plate. This example is well made and mounted on hardwood.

This is a rarely seen silver metal button style badge. It's reminiscent of the old Somerset Special Constabulary brass button badge.

Epaulette badges

During the 1980's and 1990's Avon & Somerset Speical Constables were identified by their own "Special Constabulary" cloth patches sewn onto epaulettes. During the 2000's these were replaced by a small chrome "SC" with crown as shown below. The London Met Police were well ahead in this respect and in 1989 were already preparing to withdraw their "Special Constabulary" cloth badges in favour of the "SC" with crown.

Around 2007 Avon & Somerset Constabulary withdrew their "SC" crown badges altogether. This left only the collar number to distinguish between regular officers and Special Constables.

Collar ('dog') numbers

A pair of sergeant's button hole epaulettes used for shirts

A Police officers personal identification number is still referred to as a collar number. This term originates from the days when a constables number was mounted on the collar of the old style 'high neck' tunics. Metal collar numbers have been used from the Victorian period up to the 1990's. Early versions of numbers and letters were nickel plated brass with copper lugs. These later became chrome plated and adopted various different types of fixings as seen below.

There are four main types of fixings commonly used on metal numbers as shown below.

There is also a fifth type of metal number shown below which can sometimes be found on capes or epaulettes for Gannex style rain coats (see also my section on epaulettes under Uniform part 4 ). These would be sewn onto the garment.

Some Police forces adopted plastic numbers which were fitted to plastic mounting plates with small pegs as shown below.

Police epaulettes with plastic numbers

The traditional metal numbers with lug fixings and secured with a cotter pin were still being issued by Avon & Somerset in the 1980's. The cloth slider type of epaulette with woven numbers has become the standard issue in recent years. The plastic epaulette numbers shown in the photograph above are from an unknown Police Force and were not used by Avon & Somerset Constabulary.

Collar Badges

Avon & Somerset Constabulary mounted section still use an old Bristol Constabulary collar badge on their ceremonial uniforms. The high neck ceremonial tunic has a small Bristol crest on each side. This is perhaps one of the rarest of A&S police metal badges still in use. This historical badge was also adopted by the Port of Bristol Police during the Victorian era.