"You found the murderous purple meteor? I'll be there in 5 minutes!"

Some of you who remember the wonderful Maniac Mansion know how a simple item like a lost police badge can save an atomic plant from immediate self-destruction!

In Arkham the threats are seldom as grave, but the Police Badge is still a mighty object. Firstly, it grants you a permanent +1 Willpower boost, while secondly, for guardians, it does not take a valuable slot in their inventories. Granted, there exists the Holy Rosary as huge competitor, but Police Badge is in-faction for guardian characters. Besides, as a third and maybe it's biggest pro, it instantly grants you or another investigator 2 additional actions to pull off a mega combo.

On it's own, the badge is like some extra ammunition in your pocket - nice to have, but it feels like there are plenty of more useful assets to solve the problems at hand. But in multiplayer and with a plan in your mind, it gives you a passive bonus while your team works hand in hand towards the same goal, Police Badge enables epic stories. A dedicated 5 actions token-free turn perhaps? Maybe empty Shrivelling in one turn on one target and cast Blinding Light as a finisher? With thoughtful planning, the badge is great, if you play with a new (group of) player(s), do not spoil the fun and deliberately try to make one up!

Pros

• Permanent +1 Willpower boost
• Fast ability can target other investigators at the same location and is not subject to Attacks of Opportunity.
• Occupies the accessory slot, which is uncontended for in-faction.
• Enables various comboes.
• Nice icons to commit to skill tests.

Cons

• If anything expensive asset, Roland will have trouble to afford it.
• Can not be tutored for.

[EDIT: A few errors have been removed, hope you enjoy the refresh regardless]. The other review in this section is already great, but as there hasn't been a new review in a while I wanted to spotlight a few more interactions with Police Badge. A few commonly known current interactions are:

• William Yorick is the investigator which gets most mentions when it comes to Police Badge, as his ability allows him to play it from his discard pile after defeating an enemy. Scavenging can be used similarly to recur it on investigators who can take it.
• At the time of the other review there were no tutor cards which could draw this out. Now there is Backpack and upgraded Backpack as your primary options. Tetsuo Mori can be used on any investigator that can take Police Badge as well (and for anyone with access to Seeker cards, there's of course Mr. "Rook" and No Stone Unturned - and its upgrade for Joe - though I wouldn't recommend these options).
• Well-Maintained allows Police Badge to be recurred immediately once it's discarded. What's more, Well-Maintained plays fast and for 0 resources - so whenever you play Police Badge again you can immediately set it to recur. [Note it's each other upgrade and the item that gets recurred, so you can't repeat this forever].

An interaction I've not seen anyone talk about is:

• Sleight of Hand (only Leo Anderson, "Skids" O'Toole and Zoey Samaras as of pre-Scarlet Keys). As long as you intend to discard Police Badge that turn, this is two free actions at the cost of one resource. This is also compatible with the Sleight of Hand taboo (i.e. that it can only be used on items level 0-3). On the whole though, this interaction is outshone The Red Clock which gives additional turns more consistently.