New Orleans police chief’s upside down badge is tradition

Social media posts have suggested that the New Orleans Superintendent of Police Anne Kirkpatrick has been pictured mistakenly wearing her badge upside down. But it’s actually a tradition for the superintendent to wear their badge this way. 

A photo of Superintendent Kirkpatrick that appears on the New Orleans Police Department’s (NOPD) website shows her wearing the force’s Star and Crescent badge with a gap at the top, rather than at the bottom. 

The photo of her has been shared on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption: “Is her badge upside down? She already doesn’t instill confidence - if she doesn’t even know which way to wear her badge it seems worse, no?” A screenshot of this post has also been shared on Facebook. 

This claim comes after a man drove into crowds in New Orleans’s French Quarter in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing 15 people and injuring many others. The suspect, who has been identified as US citizen and army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was shot dead during an exchange of gunfire with police in which two officers were injured. The FBI is investigating whether the suspect had links to terrorist organisations after an Islamic State flag, explosives and weapons were found in the rented vehicle used in the attack.

However, the photo circulating on social media does not show Superintendent Kirkpatrick wearing her badge upside down by mistake—it’s actually tradition for the force’s superintendent to wear their badge this way.  

According to the NOPD’s website, the tradition began in the late 1800s and is intended to distinguish the superintendent from the rest of the force while symbolising their “responsibility to lead”. Not all officers of this rank have followed this tradition, but the NOPD says every officer in the post since 2002 has.

Superintendent Kirkpatrick can be seen wearing her badge upside down in a press conference held by the force on 1 January 2025. She can be seen wearing a jacket that features the badge the correct way around during another update on the incident, but in that case the badge appears to be embroidered onto the jacket, rather than fastened on. 

In the update on 1 January, Superintendent Kirkpatrick said more than 300 police officers were deployed on the night of the attack and that the perpetrator intentionally drove around police barricades “hellbent on creating the carnage and damage he did”.  

Misinformation can spread quickly online following significant breaking news events like this. Last year, we wrote about false claims that circulated following the Southport stabbings, Bondi Junction terrorist attack and school shooting in Georgia. It’s important to consider whether information comes from a credible source before sharing it online.