# When law enforcement shows you ID how are we supposed to know it is legit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-law-enforcement-shows-you-id-how-are-we-supposed-to-know-it-is-legit/851887 "2020-04-16T00:31:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-law-enforcement-shows-you-id-how-are-we-supposed-to-know-it-is-legit/851887/21 "2020-04-17T06:57:26Z")
i take it you’ve had experiences with la county sheriffs Rio? cause its pretty much like that in the desert ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-law-enforcement-shows-you-id-how-are-we-supposed-to-know-it-is-legit/851887/22 "2020-04-17T08:39:48Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Doubtful that some small town County Sheriff is going to have a “full array” of expensive equipment on her belt. Her uniform will certainly be clean, but may show signs of a little wear. This kind of Law Enforcement Department is going to be operating on a some what limited budget. A glove pouch, baton ring and OC holster are hardly expensive equipment. My point was impersonators tend to miss small details. The OP wasn’t satisfied with the tips I gave regarding ID cards. I guess the best advice is to use common sense. If you really think something isn’t right do what you can to verify. ---
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-law-enforcement-shows-you-id-how-are-we-supposed-to-know-it-is-legit/851887/23 "2020-04-17T18:52:53Z")
As already mentioned, every department is different. A lot will depend on their budget too. My first department was a county Sheriff’s department that was extremely poor. We took our department pictures with a polaroid camera, cut the face out, glued it onto a paper ID template that we put through the typewriter to get the name and everything on there. (computers were not common back then). Because of this, there were several subtle differences in each of our ID’s. Flash forward to today, my department has a piece of software and an ID printer that prints each ID. Other than the pertinent information and the picture, the ID’s are exactly alike. We also put an expiration date on the ID, so even if you get fired and keep your ID, it is only valid until the expiration date. Our expiration dates are normally two years, but if you only have one year left until you retire, your ID will have your retirement date listed. Once you retire, you get a retiree ID card that looks different from our current employee cards. Don’t worry if you can’t spot a fake ID card, there are Police Departments that have been duped by impersonators too. I know what a lot of our neighboring department ID’s look like, but if you showed me one from another state, I wouldn’t be able to tell you if it was real or fake. What I tell people is that if they show you a badge only, ask to see their ID card. If they can’t produce an ID card that matches their badge, (Match as in same department name on both), consider it a red flag and call your local PD. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-law-enforcement-shows-you-id-how-are-we-supposed-to-know-it-is-legit/851887/24 "2020-04-17T19:03:42Z")
An old friend of mine was, until his retirement, a New York City police officer. He told me that a huge percentage of actual, real cops were carrying fake badges because the penalty for losing a real badge was pretty harsh. Apparently replica badges, with the shield number made to order, are easy to obtain, and can be purchased at police equipment stores. He said if you know about it, you can spot the fakes, because they’re a bit smaller than the real ones. I don’t know if that applies to detective badges or not (in NYC, they’re very different). So, yes, the ID card is probably better. On the other hand, if a cop in uniform gets out of a NYPD patrol car, with the radio squawking and all that, I’m probably going to be pretty sure he/she is a real cop. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-law-enforcement-shows-you-id-how-are-we-supposed-to-know-it-is-legit/851887/25 "2020-04-17T20:34:51Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > An old friend of mine was, until his retirement, a New York City police officer. He told me that a huge percentage of actual, real cops were carrying fake badges because the penalty for losing a real badge was pretty harsh. > > Apparently replica badges, with the shield number made to order, are easy to obtain, and can be purchased at police equipment stores. > > He said if you know about it, you can spot the fakes, because they’re a bit smaller than the real ones. > . A lot of agencies issue 2 separate badges. A badge for a uniform and what is called a “24 hour badge” for carrying in a badge/ID wallet. The 24 hour badge is an exact replica of the uniform badge except sometimes it is about 25% smaller. In the last decade some departments started using permanent badge patches for uniform shirts and issuing 1 metal badge instead of 2 to officers. Even with a patch badge on duty officers are usually required to carry the metal badge with their ID on their person. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-law-enforcement-shows-you-id-how-are-we-supposed-to-know-it-is-legit/851887/26 "2020-04-17T23:06:21Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > A passenger car, not one of the county’s 4x4s, crunches down our rough mountain dirt track and stops before the mud pit. Person A emerges, uniformed or not, provoking frenzied howling from barely-restrained neighbor dogs. Person A climbs the steps, looks for a non-existent doorbell, finally knocks. I crack the door and say “Wait while I chain the gila monster,” then call the sheriff. Right. Some hours later, Deputy Dawg rolls up in an Amateur County unit, hopefully before sunset when the mountain lions start prowling. > > IOW getting official verification is most unlikely here. Likely the best I can do is not let Person A inside, stay on the front porch, and keep repeating “I have nothing to say” until they shoot me or leave. But if they show a warrant, I’ll be nice. “if they show a warrant”. Doesn’t this put us back to square one again? How does one know if that piece of papar is a real warrant? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-law-enforcement-shows-you-id-how-are-we-supposed-to-know-it-is-legit/851887.md?page=1)