San Diego’s first fatal motor vehicle accident occurred in the Summer of 1905 when 63-year-old Adelaide Preston was run over while riding her bicycle at 5th Avenue and H Street.

While people had fallen off of horses for years, very few people were killed being run over by one of the animals. Within months, several other people were killed and the department was finding itself faced with a new menace.

The speeder.

As complaints mounted of, "maniac driver's screaming through neighborhoods at speeds of up to ten miles per hour", and the death toll continued to mount, answers as to what to do about it were not readily available.

Despite motorcycle officers taking to the streets in 1910, an official Traffic Division for enforcement wasn't officially formed until 1927.

Original staffing of the humble unit was four officers, who rode in pairs, and the shifts covered both day and night.

By 1935 the Traffic Division numbered more than 40 officers including three officers assigned specifically for crash investigation.

In 1941, Officer O.W. Ericson was assigned to parking enforcement making him the first SDPD officer to be given the duty of regulating a growing problem in the downtown area. By 1952 the squad had grown to 9 men, all on three wheeled motorcycles.

Not much is known about the Traffic Division exclusive patch however it appeared in the late 1930's.

Not all officer's assigned to the Traffic Division wore it which leads to speculation it may have signified officer's who had attained a higher level of formal accident investigation or other advanced schooling.

It's likely the patch was removed from uniforms around 1947.

Today, the patch is considered exceptionally rare.