The Distinguished match is fired during NRA PPC Regional tournaments and during the NRA National Police Shooting Championships. It is a service revolver/pistol type match and the equipment requirements are more stringent than in normal NRA sanctioned combat competition.

Since there is no standard service gun for police, as there is for the military, specific regulations for the firearm and ammunition are necessary. While substantial alterations of the police firearm and it's ammunition is allowed in other matches, the regulations for this match are more stringent. The intent of the regulations is to provide a competition with minimum variations to firearms and no variation in ammunition, so equipment will not be a major factor in determining the best shooter. The firearm and ammunition regulations are strictly enforced. (Please refer to the NRA Police Pistol Combat Rules book for the exact rules and regulations.)

The Distinguished badge will be awarded to those police officers who earn a total of 30 points through unassisted individual competition in NRA Police Distinguished matches. Credit points will be awarded to the highest scoring ten percent of all "non-Distinguished" competitors firing in the match ranked in order of merit. Fractions of .5 and over will be resolved to the next higher whole number. Smaller fractions will not be considered. The winning ten percent as described above will be further broken down and credit points awarded as follows:

The first time an officer qualifies, he/she will receive the "Excellence in Competition" medal and a letter indicating the number of credit points earned.

Each time an officer qualifies for additional points, he/she will be sent a letter to update his/her point total. No other medals will be issued by the NRA until the 30 points have been earned. At that time, either the Revolver or the Semi-Automatic Distinguished Badge will be awarded as well as a certificate indicating same.