Do they? I think for the vast majority of people, their only conception of what a police badge looks like is from Hollywood movies and television cop shows, and those aren’t exactly known for their accurate portrayals of law enforcement procedures. Even if they happen to use highly realistic looking badges, you’ve got the additional problems that (1) the designs are probably specific to the jurisdiction in which the show is set—just as with ID cards I’m sure there must be significant variation in badge designs, and (2) the badges tend to be flashed only briefly and at some distance from the camera, which won’t allow the audience to study them to the degree required to differentiate them from even a cheap fake.
You’re right. They’re about equally recognizable for most people at a distance.
I just googled “police badge”. All of the badges I saw for sale to the public wouldn’t fool anyone, but they were costume badges. I think that’s the extent of what you’d find for a “cheap fake”.
You could make a fake police ID card yourself, but few professional printers will make them for you. Badges are a whole different thing. There are companies that will make replica police badges for anyone claiming to be a “collector”. YMMV depending on location, but there is nothing illegal about simply possessing a police badge if you’re not a cop or posing as one. You could buy a real one from a retired cop or his widow.
When I retired from my full time department (I’m still on the job, part-time, for another agency) they gave me my badge I had for 25 years. Nobody asked me to sign anything stating I wouldn’t sell it on Ebay or give it away. And if I did, that badge wouldn’t confer any more authority to them than it does to me any more.
By federal law HR218 the only thing an officer needs to be able to carry his/her gun in all 50 states is their department issued ID, not a badge. (or they need their retirement certification card if retired).
No, you can have custom replica badges made. But they aren’t cheap. Some are over $600!
I wouldn’t be so sure; social engineering and misdirection can do a lot to cover for low-quality replicas. Ever seen a magician’s thumb tip up close? Many of them are so atrociously bad that no one would mistake them for a real thumb on close examination. But they don’t need to look like a real thumb as long as your act is performed in such a way as to distract or discourage the audience from fixating on it.
If I were a con artist impersonating a police officer and the only badge I could muster were obviously fake, I would first of all avoid showing it altogether by never volunteering to do so myself; if whoever I was trying to fool insisted on seeing it I’d flash it to them at the farthest distance and for the shortest time I thought I could get away with, and would make sure to keep talking and asking questions while doing so in order to divert the scrutineer’s attention. I’d also adopt an air of authority, urgency, confidence, and annoyance to make the examiner feel as though he’s wasting both my time and his, thus discouraging him from conducting too thorough an examination or from impugning my authority.
I spoke to a cop I know in NYC on why they do this with the badge dupes.
He said the main reason is that if they lose their badge (“lost” including having it ripped off in the course of duty) they get docked 5-10 vacation days.
The other reason sometimes is that someone would want their original badge to stay safe for sentimental reasons, such as if their father was a cop and they want to keep the physical bond. In some cases like these, an officer can even ask that his license number (badge) be the same as his father’s, and sometimes it can be done.
I forgot to ask him for the cost of the dupe. :smack:
The simplest and safest response, legally and perhaps physically, to a knock and talk is a lock and balk.
Waving a badge that is not yours is “impersonating a police officer”, a crime in any jurisdiction.
I talked to him today. $25-$30 per dupe.
Somebody upthread mentioned $800, I think? 
No, I said some can cost up to $600.
The badges we have at the agency I currently work for cost $115 each.
You must work for a fancier agency. Supply and demand. 
The agency I retired from after 25 years (at the time I retired in 2007) paid $160 per badge. These badges I speak of are very high quality, heavy polished chromed steel with welded attachment pins. They have a raised state seal and the lettering is etched. These are not stamped out badges that some replicas or cheaper made badges may be.
Note THIS badge as compared to THIS badge.
Those are both real badges worn by real cops. But the way they are manufactured is very different, and the materials used are different.
A replica (i.e. “fake”) badge is usually going to be made by an even cheaper process using cheaper materials. Unless, of course, one is willing to spend the bucks and get one custom made. And there are companies out there making very real, very good quality looking replicas.
NYC badges are pretty cheap looking but they are traditional. We used to have NYC style badges. I still carry my old one in my wallet.