Just in case fighting for five stars on each case and finding all the cars, newspapers, landmarks, and film reels in L.A. Noire isn’t enough to keep you busy, you can now search the city for police badges in the L.A. Noire Badge Pursuit Challenge, part of the new DLC. And what do you get for finding all 20? Unfortunately, not much–all you get for completing the Badge Pursuit Challenge is a new suit (the Button Man Outfit) and stats on the Rockstar Social Club.
If the allure of another virtual suit and a sense of obligation to complete things is enough to motivate you, follow this guide to find all the police badges in the L.A. Noire Badge Pursuit Challenge.
Generally speaking, if you are in the right location, you can quickly spot the police badges because they glisten as if reflecting sunlight (even if it is nighttime in the game). The clue-found music will also play when you are close to a police badge. Interestingly, when you collect a police badge, the game displays the number of “Hidden Shields” you have found, and each police badge has the number 2483 on it. Each badge you find will also give you 5 XP, helping you to increase your rank in the game or unlock more intuition points. You be interested in how to unlock the Button Man Outfit; just follow this walkthrough and you’ll get it.
The badges can be collected in any order. I have listed them in an order that makes the most sense to me geographically.
L.A. Noire Badge Pursuit Challenge Police Badge Locations
Hollywood Division
Police Badge #1
Location: Hotel Roosevelt (corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Drive)
Description: On Hollywood Boulevard, close to the intersection with Orange Drive, there is a doorway to Hotel Roosevelt. The badge is on the ground in front of the door.
Police Badge #2
Location: Grauman’s Theater (north of Hollywood Boulevard between Orange Drive and Orchid Avenue)
Description: In front of Grauman’s Theater, there is a long red carpet that leads from the street to the theater. Walk up the red carpet towards the theater, and the badge is on the smaller red carpet on the left.
Police Badge #3
Location: Max Factor Building (east of Highland Avenue between Hollywood Boulevard and Selma Avenue)
Description: There is an alley south of the Max Factor Building between Highland Avenue and McCadden Avenue. There is a fenced-in area at the corner of the alley and Highland Avenue with a couple of dumpsters in it. Drive your car through the fence gate, and the badge is on the ground next to the first dumpster.
Police Badge #4
Location: Musso and Franks (on Hollywood Boulevard between Las Palmas Avenue and Whitley Avenue)
Description: There is a parking lot behind Musso and Franks. The badge is under the green awning by the door.
Police Badge #5
Location: Crossroads to the World (on Sunset Boulevard, east of Las Palmas Avenue)
Description: In the middle of the Crossroads to the World building, there is a little hallway that connects to each sidewalk. From the front of the building, walk up the side of the building on either the left or right sidewalk, and find the hallway. The badge is in the middle of the hallway on the ground.
Wilshire Division
Police Badge #6
Location: West Lake Tar Pits (on the south edge of map, south of San Marino Street)
Description: From the parking lot at the West Lake Tar Pits, you can see an old white building. On the opposite side of the building is a porch. The badge is on the porch by the door.
Police Badge #7
Location: LA County Art Museum (between 8th Street and 9th Street on Hoover Street)
Description: Looking at the front of the LA County Art Museum, there is a staff parking lot on the right. When you go in the entrance to the staff parking lot, there is a walkway to the museum on your left. Walk up this walkway towards the museum, and the badge is on the ground.
Police Badge #8
Location: Bullocks Wilshire (corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Wilshire, in the Wilshire Division)
Description: If you have your partner drive there, he stops in the parking lot south of the Bullocks Wilshire Building. There is a large awning on this side of the building. Enter the awning and go down the staircase on the left. The badge is in front of the door at the bottom of the steps.
Central Division
Police Badge #9
Location: Intolerance Set (at the corner of 8th Street and Francisco Street)
Description: Drive your car through the gate. Directly in front of you after you go through the gate there is a long hallway. Go down the hallway and turn left. Go up the stairs and turn left immediately to go down another set of stairs. Turn right into another hallway and the badge is on the ground in front of you.
Police Badge #10
Location: Mac Arthur Park (on Wilshire Boulevard between Park View Street and Alvarado Street)
Description: Find the dock with paddle boats (they are in the shape of ducks). Walk to the end of the dock and turn left. The police badge is on top of a barrel.
Police Badge #11
Location: Los Angeles Examiner (south of the corner of 11th Street and Broadway)
Description: There is a parking lot behind the Los Angeles Examiner building. Take the entrance to the parking lot from Broadway to find the badge on a ledge on the right by some plants.
Police Badge #12
Location: RKO Theater (on the corner of 8th Street and Hill Street)
Description: At the entrance to the RKO Theater, there are several posters for movies playing. To the right there is a poster for Night Train. The badge is on the ground in front of this poster.
Police Badge #13
Location: LA Public Library (between Flower Street and Grand Avenue on 5th Street)
Description: Climb the drainpipe up the side of the LA Public Library (just like in the Quarter Moon Murders case). Climb up the scaffolding to get onto the main roof. Walk straight ahead to the other side of the roof. There are two large tanks on that side. Climb up the wall in between the tanks, and the badge is on the roof in the middle of this area.
Police Badge #14
Location: Pershing Square (between Olive Street and Hill Street, between 5th Street and 6th Street)
Description: South of the fountain in the middle of the square, there is an old trolley car that has been turned into a hot dog stand. Under the awning of this trolley car is a table with the badge on it.
Police Badge #15
Location: Main Street Terminal (south of 6th Street between Main Street and Los Angeles Street)
Description: Enter the Main Street Terminal from main street. Walk or drive up the tracks until you see the red rail car on your left. The badge is on the tracks on the east side of the rail car.
Police Badge #16
Location: Angels Flight (on 3rd Street between Olive Street and Hill Street)
Description: If you are playing under the Traffic Desk, you will probably trigger the Shoo-Shoo Bandits Street Crime when you approach Angels Flight. It’s a short street crime, so just complete it, then go back. At the bottom of Angels Flight (where the landmark icon is located on the map), there is a sidewalk that goes up the left side of the tracks. Start up the sidewalk, and as soon as you can, go under the tracks to your right. The badge is on the ground under the tracks.
Police Badge #17
Location: Hall of Records (north of 1st Street on Broadway)
Description: Enter the Hall of Records and approach the guard sitting at the front desk. The badge is on the desk to the guard’s left.
Police Badge #18
Location: Union Station (east of Almeda Street towards the north edge of the map)
Description: Walk in the front door of Union Station and turn left to go towards the ticket counters. The badge is at the third window.
Police Badge #19
Location: Chinatown (at the northernmost end of Broadway)
Description: The streets in Chinatown aren’t named, so it makes it more difficult to describe where this badge is. If you look at the map, Chinatown is more or less a rectangular section of the map. The badge is located between two gargoyle statues in front of a store in the southwest corner of this rectangle.
Police Badge #20
Location: 6th Street Viaduct (on 6th Street where it crosses the Los Angeles River)
Description: This badge is actually located underneath the 6th Street Viaduct. Find a way to get to the river itself, and in the middle of the river, there is a pylon with a ladder on the west side. Climb the ladder. The badge is in the middle of the floor.
Thanks for using this L.A. Noire Badge Pursuit Challenge Guide. Remember to also use our L.A. Noire Case Guides and L.A. Noire Achievements Guides.