Well isn’t this interesting? Here’s the original cover of "The Badge," from my five-foot shelf of books on Los Angeles. Note the style of badge and Serial No. 714.
And here’s the cover of the reprint ("With a new introduction by James Ellroy") using the style of badge that was abandoned in the 1940s. Jack Webb with this clunky old thing that isn’t even Serial No. 714? How the mighty have fallen.
Update: Reader Call Box Sam points out further problems with the badge
on the new edition of Webb’s book. He correctly notes that there is no city seal
in the middle and that the titles are wrong. (Yes, I should have noticed this since I have an image of an authentic badge on my site, but … I was hurrying to get to church).
For comparison, here’s an old image of a proper badge (at least to the best of my knowledge it is an authentic badge) that I got years ago from EBay. This style of badge was withdrawn in the 1940s because there were literally thousands that had been given out to civilians over the years.
ladailymirror.com 
I guess you also realize that the badge in the original edition of “The Badge” is copyrighted by the LAPD and the LAPD probably could not grant a release for a commercial book. With Jack Webb it was different, of course, since Chiefs Parker and Reddin granted his prodcution company wide latitude to immortalize the LAPD.
By the way, the original Webb character (Sgt. Joe Friday) was “promoted” to lieutenant in an effort to stave off the original series’ cancellation.
LikeLike