Release from Hutchinson Police Department
When Chief Hooper was brought on in 2018, as the Chief of Police for HPD, he realized that we were getting close to our sesquicentennial year and wanted the command staff to think of a way to honor our 150 years. The Captain of Professional Standards, Thad Pickard, was tasked with designing the 150th badge and the design was approved by the Chief and Command staff.
The design and history of the badge
The circle around the badge is a nod to the old west badges worn by lawmen, who started our profession here in Kansas. The circle also is a symbol of oneness and never-ending, the circle goes on to symbolizes the HPD family that the encompasses the shield. On the circle is the department’s name and the years signifying the 150th years of our department.
There are two flags that come from behind the shield giving honor to our Country and State.
The shield itself is a duplicate to the traditional shield worn by HPD officers. The shield signifies the protection that HPD provides to the city and our citizens. The shield was a symbol of authority in early times in Europe, most lawmen in those times were Knights. The knights would have symbols on their shields which acknowledged their allegiance to justice, chivalry and their noble leaders, it was to show their vow to guard and serve. The police badge, or often referred to as the shield, is worn over the left breast pocket. There are two reasons why the shield is worn there, first to be worn covering the heart to always and forever help remind them of their pledge to protect and secondly for the reason that left arm was the arm that frequently held the coat of arms shield of knights… defending the heart and leaving behind the strong hand to fight using a weapon.
Traditionally patrol officers on HPD wear a silver shield, while officers that hold rank wear gold. The shield on the 150th badge is two toned, with a silver shield and gold banners. The shield is silver, giving honor to the true work force of our department, the patrol officers, the banners are gold to honor the officers that hold rank. The two-tone coloring is to honor past and present officers of all ranks that have helped our department to get to 150 years.
The bird on the badge is a Salthawk, a mythical bird that had its origins started for the mining of salt in the area, which was discovered in 1887. In 1930 the Salthawk was adopted by Hutchinson High school. It is unknown when the Salthawk was adopted by HPD, but it was on patches and badges prior to the 1930’s. In the 1970’s the HPD shoulder patch was re-designed by a police officer’s wife, which did not have the Salthawk, but the Salthawk was still on the coat patches of HPD. In the early 2000’s a new shoulder patch was designed which replaced the patches on both uniform shirt and jackets, the Salthawk was no longer on any patches of the HPD. The Salthawk continues to be present on all HPD badges and it is the one item that had to be on the sesquicentennial badge. The unofficial name of the bird amongst officers is “the gooney bird”.
There is nothing more important to HPD then our core values, it is the heart of our agency. Our three core values of Honesty, Integrity and Professionalism are engraved on the back of the badge. It is a constant reminder to our employees as they pin their badge to their shirt before they start work. Those three values are kept protected by the badge and kept close to the heart of the officer wearing the badge.