How many numbers in a police badge?

In most cases, badges are issued to officers when they graduate from their basic police (academy) training. However, not all badge have numbers, and the officer's "badge number" may not have anything to do with his badge.

Most officers do have a number associated with their law enforcement position, but this might be a state commission number, issued by the agency that certifies all officers in that state. In that case, the officer would keep the same number at any agency he worked within that state, even if he changed departments one or more times. The officer's number may be a serial number indicating his seniority among other governmental or department employees.