Polizei Nordrhein-Westfalen Patch & Badge, North Rhine-Westphalia Police Patch & Badge

Here is another pair of German police items from my collection......... A shoulder uniform patch and hat badge from the Nordhein-Westfalen Polizei.

The Polizei Nordrhein-Westfalen, or NRW Polizei, are the state police of North Rhine Westphalia.  They are in charge of all police activities, from traffic control, to enforcement and investigation.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia page that gives a good description of this police agency (in German):
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polizei_Nordrhein-Westfalen 


This patch and badge date to the 1975 to the present.  In 1975, the NRW Polizei adopted this insignia and the standard German Police uniform of tan pants, bamboo shirt and green dress uniform. As of December 2011, they have changed the uniform again and have adopted an all dark-blue uniform.  The vehicle paint scheme has also changed from green and white to blue and white.

As an interesting side note, the  Polizei Nordrhein-Westfalen have been deployed to Afghanistan for some time now and are involved in training the Afghanistan Police.  The uniform they wear there is a bit different from the standard continental uniform.  As you can see, it has the German Federal Flag on the sleeve, in addition to the department patch.

The badge has the NRW crest over the standard German "star burst" background.  It attaches with metal prongs on the back.  This badge is worn on the front of the duty and dress hats and berets.

Here are the photos of this badge and patch set:

Here are some photos of the Polizei Nordrhein-Westfalen and their vehicles: