The Evolution of Sheriff Badge

March 6, 2012 - PRLog -- A sheriff badge is a symbol of the authority responsible for keeping peace and security throughout the entire county.  In some countries like Great Britain and India, sheriff is administrative, legal officer, some are judges and some holds a ceremonial position. In the United States, sheriffs vary according to states and county.  The sheriff is a county officer and serves in a county court.  In urban areas, the sheriff's duties and responsibilities may be limited to court duties like serving warrants, providing courtroom security, transport prisoners, and serving process.  Sheriff guards the town limits.  In most rural areas, the sheriffs serve as a police force.

The Los Angeles Sheriff Badge for example, goes way back in 1850 when California became a state.   The badge's style and appearance was based on a person's taste of design.  This practice was carried on until the early 1900s.  As time changes, adopted a pointed star design.  Shortly after 1900, an eagle top badge was placed.  The material was smaller and lighter for an officer to carry.  In 1914, however, when Sheriff John Cline was elected for his second term, he appointed 9,000 Special Deputies.  The Board of Directors changed the eagle top to a bear top with control number printed on it.

When Eugene Warren Biscailuz became the Los Angeles County Sheriff in 1993, he made some innovative changes in his department such as wearing of uniforms with a hat for officers on duty.  A new sheriff badge and cap was then designed using the 6 pointed stars, an ordinance was passed on July 1948 approving the design made by Deputy Bob Brown.  The badge was worn by personnel sworn in the department.  Deputy Brown joined the Department on June 1955.  He served the Department for almost two decades working in the movie industry as costume designer for cowboy actors.  Deputy Brown was the designer of the current Los Angeles Sheriff Badge.  He was asked to prepare a new design by Undersheriff Peter Pitches.  He submitted two designs, and both were accepted.  These designs entered into the Department's history books.

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A new hat was designed for male officers preserving the bear top design.  The female cap, on the other hand, was smaller and has no badge numbers.  In 1960s, the female cap was abolished, and the male cap was also abolished in the 1970s.  In the 1990s, the Los Angeles County changed its contractor to the Sun badge company.  There were badges and caps made but, the badges were cancelled and went back to the original contractor.  The cap pieces were continued in production to Sun Badge Company.  In the year 2000, the Millenium Badge and the 150th Anniversary Badge were sold to Deputies and were authorized to wear only on that year.  Thereafter, these badges were returned to the deputy.  The actual badge is highly polished to silver but when taken a picture the badge is dulled.

The sheriff badge may differ in design from county to country and by country.  It has a long history together with the country that they are designated.  Many people have given extra effort to make their badge significant and relevant to the changing times.  What we can be sure is that our sheriffs are there to preserve peace and security in our county.