Appointing of new moderators should be in the to-do list right now. We can somehow manage the forum with current moderation, but having additional moderators appointed would make the work a lot more easier.
Agreed I don't know what the budget looks like for moderators but for a forum of its size we need more moderators. Whether they are paid or volunteered positions. Bitcoin Discussion is overrun by spam and a few other more niche sub forums like project development.
I am close to 1000 reports and would hit that anytime in a month or 2, but should that really be popularized by having a badge? Reporting is not a job, to reward the reporters for what they do. Funny thing is that, even if I don't post in a day I report a spam whenever I browse through the forum. I don't think this is really important to implement such kind of an idea right now.
I think you're thinking of it wrong you are thinking that is a reward when no it should be considered a incentive. Badges are nothing other than cosmetic and if it increases reporting stats by offering something as minor as a cosmetic badge then I'm all for the idea. There needs to either be more reporters or moderators I'm not sure if the current staff are overworked or if there aren't enough reports getting to them. Theymos knows and considering he suggested the badges to increase reports I'm thinking that there just aren't enough active reporters and the staff aren't overworked at the moment.