BACKGROUND: On June 17TH 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern, (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany. As a result of this appointment and the restructuring of all the separate German state police into a single national police force new regulations were instituted to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country. One of the new uniform regulations was the introduction of an identifying sleeve insignia. The SHD, Sicherheits und Hilfs Dienst, (Security and Assistance Service), was formed in 1935 as a uniformed civilian organization under control of the RLM, Reichsluftfahrtministerium, (National Air Travel Ministry). The SHD worked hand in hand with the RLB and LSW in the civil air defence network with its primary functions being decontamination, fire fighting, rescue and repair and assisting civilian personnel and securing buildings following an air raid. In 1939 the SHD began conscripting personnel and in March 1942 the organization was renamed Luftschutz-Polizei, (Air Protection Police), and came under control of the Ordnungspolizei, (Order Police). Originally LS-Polizei personnel continued to wear their SHD uniforms with police insignia until late 1942 when police uniforms began to be issued. This pattern insignia was worn on the upper left sleeve of the service uniform by ranks of Unterwachtmeister to Hauptwachtmeister, (equivalent to the army ranks of Unteroffizier to Oberfeldwebel, respectively).

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Machine embroidered police eagle encompassed by a vertically oval oak-leaf wreath in silvery/grey cotton threads with black swastika and eye detailing on a cut-out, vertically oval, Luftwaffe blue/grey wool base. Scarce LS-Polizei sleeve eagle.