Charles Falco, known as 'The Infiltrator' speaks about his life behind the California biker gangs collectively known as the Vagos. Courtesy:Fox 11

QUEENSLAND police will no longer have to wear their names on their shirts, sparking fears of ugly scenes at next year's G20 summit.

Commissioner Ian Stewart has agreed to the move after the Queensland Police Union raised safety concerns for officers in the wake of the September 28 bikie brawl and new anti-bikie laws.

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Instead of their names, all sworn police can now apply to wear just their rank and employment number on their shirts so they can still be identified.

The move means the public will not be able to identify police by name at any event or incident where officers are present.

But civil libertarians said it was a return to "the bad old days" and warned of a repeat of scenes at G20 summits in Toronto and London where police, who also only had to show their employment number, hid or removed their name badges when clashing with protesters.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said watchhouse and commissioned officers could also apply for a rank and registered number only name tag.

"The policy was made following a number of considerations, including officer safety," he said.

QPU president Ian Leavers said it was a commonsense move that came about after Premier Campbell Newman offered his support in the wake of the bikie brawl.

But Queensland Council of Civil Liberties vice-president Terry O'Gorman said the issue of police being concerned for their safety was "over-hyped".

"It is much more desirable that police have name badges, because names are more easily remembered, whereas numbers can be confused," he said.

"The whole purpose of having name badges is to make police accountable and we believe names should be sewn on to shirts."

He said in the past, police had been accused of removing name badges to avoid complaints being made against them, most recently during the G20 summits in Toronto and London.

Mr O'Gorman said if the police service was concerned about the personal safety of officers, it should ensure their names were removed from databases, such as the electoral roll and land titles.

The police service first introduced name tags for officers in 1990 following the passing of the new Police Administration Act, and the adoption of the logo "with honour we serve".

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