Former policeman collects decals from all over the world: “Now have 2,700”

It all started during the World Police and Fire Games, a kind of Olympic Games for police and firefighters, in Vancouver in 1989. A colleague was exchanging stuff with a group of people, “I still thought ‘they are not dealing'” , says Jansen with a laugh. It turned out to be police decals.

“The oldest I have is from the National Police Corps. I got it from a colleague who did exciting work here, but was later unfortunately killed during a holiday in South America. He is dear,” says Jansen at a a small selection from his collection. “This one comes from Cuba. Friends of mine dared to speak to an agent. But that is all very difficult there. In the end, the tour guide managed to get rid of the emblem.”

Behind every emblem is a special story. Collecting is not always unscathed. “I saw a decal on a colleague that had been embroidered incorrectly. Everything was mirrored on it. The colleague hadn’t noticed it yet. I offered to buy him a new shirt so I could get the decal, but he immediately tore his sleeve off,” says Jansen. An agent in Germany made it even more colorful. He tore off his second sleeve after the first. “Otherwise it’s not a face, he said.”

As a police officer, Jansen has naturally developed a sharp eye and he can use that when collecting. “When I watch films or series in which the police appear, I sometimes pause them to see if I can distinguish the emblems. If I succeed, I look up the corresponding police station on the internet and just send them an email. I also did on the famous Hill Street Blues series. Of course that wasn’t a real agency so I approached the production company.”

exchange

For the rest, Jansen only wants to work with real emblems because, you will hardly believe it, counterfeit versions are also in circulation around police emblems. “I trade a lot and have my own website where my collection can be seen. I have just been approached by a collector from Spain who got hold of an emblem from the slip track in Enspijk, near Culemborg. He asked if I knew what it was. Nice, because I also had a course there.”

The current logo of the police in the Netherlands is protected by copyright and nothing should actually be changed. Sometimes this is still done by a corps with creativity. In America they sometimes do it out of protest. “In Milwaukee they always had a logo of a sailing boat. Because there was always a shortage of money, agents then had an emblem made with a sinking ship on it. And in Washington DC the conditions were so bad, a lot of murders, that agents made an emblem with a Grim Reaper and the text ‘Death City’. When the mayor saw that, everything had to be removed from the clothing.”

Jealous

The former police officer started in Friesland in 1976, but then spent the rest of his career in the Kop van Noord-Holland and retired last year. “That makes collecting a bit more difficult.” Jansen managed to approach every department within the Dutch police to get beautiful emblems.

“I once sent the General of the Marechaussee a letter, because it was difficult to get hold of their emblem. He really liked it and sent one straight away. Good luck with your hobby, he added.” Jansen also gets hold of the chief of the Special Interventions Service, which is used in, for example, arrests, hostage-taking or terrorist threats. He immediately sends you a whole collection. “I think fellow collectors were jealous of that at the time.”

flight service

Martin Jansen is not the only one with this hobby: “I think there are about 100 collectors in the Netherlands”. And there’s still plenty to discover, but he definitely preys on a certain type. “Everything from the Police Flight Services in the world is very welcome. It is very difficult here in the Netherlands to get emblems. And if you have nothing to trade, it is also difficult elsewhere.”