Dump In a Box for 14.Mar.06

An Outward Show of Political Influence
LA Times

Although the badges issued by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the San Bernardino County district attorney's office (given to people who donated money to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, Riverside Sheriff Bob Doyle and San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Mike Ramos) are not identical to those used by sworn officers, they bear similar stars or other symbols and official department names. It is a misdemeanor in California to distribute badges to the public that are likely to be confused with real law enforcement badges.
[...]
Ramos said he asked Nalbandian to return the badges in October 2003 because he came to realize "it looks horrible" to award badges to campaign donors and that the name "Bureau of Justice" sounded too much like a real police organization.

Oh yeah... those won't get misused. Just read this excerpt about a member of the "Homeland Security Support Unit":

Raffi Mesrobian displayed both his Los Angeles sheriff's ID card and his Riverside sheriff's Executive Council badge to state agents serving a search warrant at his Glendale naturopathy office during a Medi-Cal fraud investigation last year.

A state Department of Justice investigator wrote in his report that the identification card "did not distinguish whether Mesrobian was a sworn peace officer, a civilian employee or volunteer." Mesrobian is not a reserve deputy and has had no law enforcement training.

"In fact … the official photo identification card would suggest that Mesrobian was a deputy or official of the Sheriff's Department instead of an unpaid volunteer or member of a support council," Special Agent J. Timothy Fives wrote in his report.

-DIB.