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:

Bundesgrenzschutz-Polizei Patches 2001 - 2005

Today I have another set of Bundesgrenzschutz patches that come from the very last chapter of the Bundesgrenzschutz.

In 2001, the BGS made their final reorganization and uniform change before they were officially renamed in 2005 as the Bundespolizei.  During the 2001 - 2005 time period, the BGS basically wore the standard German Federal Police uniform.  The last of the old Bundesgrenzschutz unique items were a thing of the past.  The rank structure as well as the shoulder boards became the standard police style worn throughout Germany.  The shoulder patches were also changed to a Police Green background with yellow embroidery.  The work POLIZEI was also added above the Federal Eagle.

The set I am showcasing today are new and unissued.

Here is a quick shot of a few Bundesgrenzschutz officers "working the crowd" during this 2001 - 2005 transition period:

Sea Scout Ship Viking, SSS-601, ex-USCG Motor Life Boat 44372

Sea Scout Ship VIKING,  ex-USCG 44372

Awhile back, when I was doing some research into the whereabouts of the old 44 foot Motor Life Boats that I served on in the 1980's, I discovered that one of the boats, the USCG 44372, is now a Sea Scout Boat down in Portland, Oregon!


http://eastpdxnews.com/community-resource/sea-scouts-offer-on-the-water-fun-leadership-skills/

I got in contact with the command of the City of Roses, Sea Scout group (SSS-601), and sent them a batch of photos of the old 44372 from my time on her back in 1984-1986, at USCG Station Grays Harbor.  They in turn, hooked me up with two of their uniform hats for the crew of the SSS-601 Viking, and two coffee mugs with the unit legend and a great line drawing of the old 44372.

Here are a few photos of the wonderful gifts:

Here is a link to the Sea Scout web page that features the SS-601 VIKING / USCG 44372:

http://www.sss601.org/44/index.html

The Sea Scouts have some great photo albums of the old 44372 on their site as well.  Be sure to check out the great albums at this link:


http://www.sss601.org/photos.html

I won't go into my complete history with the 44372 on this blog posting, but if you'd like to read a bit more about the years this boat and I spent together at USCG Station Grays Harbor, and see some great "vintage" photos, head on back to my previous posting:

http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2011/12/uscg-station-grays-harbor-1984-1986-my.html

USCG Station Grays Harbor 1984-86, 44372 (That's me in the photo!)

Here is one closing note to hopefully clarify the naming and organizational system system for the Sea Scouts.  The Sea Scouts are part of the Boy Scouts of America.  The Sea Scouts are organized into chapters called "Ships".  In the case of the Portland, Oregon group, the city name is "City of Roses", which is the nickname for Portland, and the group designator is "SSS-601", or "Sea Scout Ship 601".  Their actual "ship" is the Viking.  The Sea Scouts are a co-ed group for young people, aged 14-20 and their adult advisers. 
To finish up this posting, I would like to leave you with a video that was produced by the City of Roses SSS-601 crew of Portland, Oregon.  Enjoy!

Bahnpolizei Patch and Shoulder Boards, 1984 - 1992, BOS im BP-Dienst

For today's posting, I'll be showing off a new addition to my collection, courtesy of a friend and fellow collector in Berlin.  This set is from the uniform of an officer in the German Bahnpolizei, or German Federal Railroad Police.

This shoulder patch and shoulder board style was adopted in 1984, after the Bahnpolizei was reorganized and new uniforms were adopted.  These remained in service until the Bahnpolizei was absorbed by the Bundesgrenzschutz.  Here is a link to a pretty good site that has tons of photos and information on the uniforms and service of the Bahnpolizei from 1953 to 1992.  The site is a bit jumbled, but it is filled with good info.

http://www.bahnpolizeiderdb.de.tl/Uniformen--s--Abzeichen.htm

The shoulder boards are for an officer with the rank of BOS im BP-Dienst., or Bundesbahn Obersekretär in the Bahnpolizei Service.  The buttons are the standard federal uniform type.

Here is the complete album of this Bahnpolizei set:

Here are a few service photos of BP officers from the late 1980's to 1992:

United States Coast Guard Ensign - Flag, USCG Station Grays Harbor 1984 - 1986

While going through my old "sea chest", of my old service things, I found this flag tucked into the bottom layers of my USCG uniforms.  This flag is an original United States Coast Guard Ensign.  This flag flew from the flag pole in the front of USCG Station Grays Harbor while I was stationed there from 1984 - 1986.

As you can see from the condition of the flag, the weather at Grays Harbor really takes a toll on flags!  This flag will give you a real glimpse of what a field station's flag often looks like.......... not necessarily bright and shinny like you would think!

Here are two excellent links to information pages. One on USCG Station Grays Harbor and one about the USCG Ensigns:

http://www.uscg.mil/d13/sectcolrvr/units/graysharbor.asp

http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/Coast_Guard_Flags.asp


And here are the photos of the original USCG Station Grays Harbor ensign: