7 Facts About Blackinton: Manufacturer of Police Badges

Police badges and many other metal forms of insignia are produced at Blackinton factory in Attleboro Falls, Massachusetts. The company is well known for making badges for law enforcement, fire fighters, military officials, and the FBI.

Here are seven facts about Blackinton.

1. Blackinton got its start by commissioning military insignias during the Civil War, for the Union Army, according to the company’s website.

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2. The company employs about 200 employees from the local area, with no manufacturing facilities overseas.

3. More than 800 dealers throughout the nation distribute Blackinton’s products.

4. Blackinton’s badges have been provided to multiple law enforcement departments throughout America, including the Chicago Police Department, Houston Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, New York State Police, Atlanta Police Department, Boston Police Department, and California Highway Patrol.

5. Blackinton started in 1852, making and supplying fraternal regalia around the world.

6. In 2012, Blackinton released a new line of pink badges and pins to support breast cancer awareness. The company said it has donated more than $8,500 to charities it supports.

Officers of the Miami Police Department are among those who have worn the pink badges, the Miami News-Record reported in an article about the department’s campaign to support National Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, 2014.

“My sister and my aunt are both breast cancer survivors and it's an important issue to me. We thought this is a great cause and a great way to show support,” Captain Thomas Anderson told the newspaper.

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7. In 2009, a Blackinton badge was credited with saving a police officer who was shot during a traffic stop in Oakland, Tennessee, PoliceOne reported. The police chief ordered the 12-gauge, brass alloy badge months prior to the incident, in which a bullet shot at point-blank range struck the badge. The company offered to replace the badge and encapsulate it in Lucite for the officer to keep as a souvenir.

A Blackinton video showcases the process behind the making of metal badges.



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