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Bringing home the badges
July 30th, 2008, 1:56 pm · 49 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
So. How do you get 429 people to hand over those nice shiny sheriff’s badges with the six-pointed star, which surely inhabit little boys’ dreams?
That’s the conundrum facing Lt. Tom Slayton, the man in charge of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Professional Service Responder reserve. Sheriff Sandra Hutchens ordered volunteers to return those badges last week while she evaluates the program.
The plan is to use:
- The U.S. Postal Service. With a budget of about $1,400, letters will land in the mailboxes of PSR volunteers, asking them to drop the badges into a pre-stamped envelope and return them to the department.
- Staff follow-up. Over the next several weeks, four staffers will follow up with phone calls. No price tag on that, as it will be combined with regular duties.
The very first badge was surrendered on Friday by PSR Tim Reynolds, the pilot who recently 
flew 9-year-old Ryan Ramos home for a tearful reunion with his mother, after the boy was kidnapped and taken to Mexico by his father. (Ryan’s father had shot his mother, then killed himself.)
Reynolds plans to volunteer as usual, badge or no badge - about 10 hours a month.
“Was the badge a big attraction? It was a zero attraction,” Reynolds said. “I kept it in my car the whole time. I never used it. The first thing they tell you about it is you can’t show it to anyone. If you get pulled over for a speeding ticket, you can’t pull it out and say, ‘Hey! I’m a sheriff guy!’”
That’s not what always happened among other reserve units, of course, which is why Sheriff Hutchens wants the badges back while she rethinks things. Reserve programs under former Sheriff Mike Carona have had some black eyes, and there are allegations that:
- Carona gave badges to 86 people in exchange for campaign donations of $1,000 each.
- Fred Glusman, owner of Newport Beach’s Ritz Restaurant, allegedly flashed his badge during a dispute over a parking space.
- Raymond Yi, once Carona’s martial arts instructor, allegedly drew a gun during a golf dispute.
None of those, Slayton notes, were professional reserves.
“I want to really make it clear, whatever the program was, it hasn’t been that for some time, and I feel sorry for these people who got beat up by association, ” Slayton said. “Mostly, these are just guys trying to be helpful.”
And yes, they are overwhelmingly guys.
The professional volunteers provide off-the-beaten-track services to the department for free, which Slayton says saves you and me some money. In addition to the services of a pilot like Reynolds, there are hydraulic engineers (called on to help fix flooding in the parking structure at the Stanton substation), architects (called on to help redesign interior space at the south substation to accommodate an exercise area), doctors (who go out with SWAT teams), photographers. Some volunteer as dispatchers, others walk John Wayne Airport to help tourists and keep an eye out for suspicious behavior.
So far, about 100 of the 429 badges have been returned. Only 329 to go!
“It’s pretty much a given that some will have been lost or will not be returned,” Slayton said. ”We’ll take lost property reports, enter the badges into a national database for missing or stolen property. I don’t know what number that will be, but every badge will be accounted for. They don’t belong to the people. They belong to the Sheriff’s Department.”
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I’m liking our new sheriff. Finally things are starting to get done
good idea to recall the badges, its too tempting to abuse having it, they have no place in the modern law enforcement world. ID cards are a much more reliable way to check if someone is a legit LEO, and one step further a call to the agency they claim to represent or 911. So many agencies out their both federal and state that have LEO officers its easy to see how the public can get confused about who is legit and not legit. Then you have security guards that like to go as close to the line of impersonating a police officer as they can, with the occasional cross over here and there.
The Sheriff should have stood up in public and defended the PSRs!!!! Who volunteered 16,000 hours last year and now over 10,000 hours of their time this year already!!!!
The badges have never been a problem. If there was a public perception that there was a problem with the badges the Sheriff should have shown TRUE LEADERSHIP and defended them and the PSRs. She should have stood up in a news conference and told the truth!! Backing the men and women of the PSRs with her full support!!
Instead she stood up there on her high horse and thumbed her nose at the PSRs. Nice leadership Sheriff. Didn’t they teach you anything about leadership up in LA???????
Jim says: “I’m liking our new sheriff. Finally things are starting to get done”
Really things are getting done? Like what? Was this program the cause of a jail beating death? Was the PSR program the cause of the overtime abuse? This is only about publicity, she is distancing herself from Mike Carona thats all nothing more nothing less.
She might want to wake up and start focusing on problems within the Sheriffs dept.
I don’t know a single PSR who is in it “for the badge.” Basically, they are just a group of men and women who want to serve the community by volunteering time to support the OCSD. Most PSR’s never even carried the badge while performing their service.
The badges were, however, an acknowledgment that PSR’s were a valued part of the Sheriff Departments “family.” They were a symbol of recognition that the time, effort and contributions of the PSR’s were valued and appreciated by the department. But now, according to our new Sheriff, PSR badges symbolize corruption and have become a distraction to the program. According to her, those little pieces of metal somehow tarnish the 16000+ hours PSR’s donate to the program each year.
To justify her recall, Sheriff Hutchens has concluded the PSR badges are too similar to those worn by sworn personnel, and says guidelines set by the state Attorney General require they be recalled. She makes no mention, however, of all the other badges her department hands out… Badges that look EXACTLY like a “Real” Deputy badge are given to cooks, janitors, city council members, mayors, photographers, chaplains, teen age explorers, health inspectors, and others… If it is, truly, the Attorney General guidelines she wants to follow, then every badge issued to anyone other than a sworn peace officer must be recalled as well.
To single out PSR’s is to denigrate and diminish the service of more then 400 of her departments best supporters.
Before any of you jump in joy with the Sheriff’s action, do personally know any of the 429 people who have one of those dangerous badges? Do you personally know what kind of people they are? Do you personally know why they are willing to submit to background checks and fingerprinting so they can give their time to the county? Do you know anything about what the program does for the county?
If you know any of them personally, you would understand that the they were never in it for the badge and the way this was handled and the way the masses reacted to it is an insult to their integrity. “We don’t need no stinking badges.” The Sheriff can have those back but don’t do it in such as way as to cast a shadow over the integrity of the people who willingly sacrifice and give their time, and for some the use of their property, to Sheriff’s department. If you don’t understand that and support the volunteers and the program, then be prepared to see more of your money go to taxes because that it the only way to bridge the gap that the volunteers have been filling.
The real issue here isn’t even the badges, is that asking for them to be recalled in this way shows an appalling lack of respect to people who donated their own personal time to be trained, certified, and then to help the Sheriff’s Department with no expectation of recompense other to serve their community.
To all of you naysayers who criticize the PSRs:
Go to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department site, go to the bottom left drop-down menu and click “Reserves”, go to the Professional Services Responder page and then look at the requirements to become a PSR.
Now tell me there’s something wrong with those good men and women who not only went through that long and demanding training, but who also take time out from their lives (that could be spent with family, on hobbies, etc) to serve the public… for FREE.
What Hutchens did is an insult and a slap in the face to these giving, generous people.
kb Says:
July 30th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
“…good idea to recall the badges, its too tempting to abuse having it, they have no place in the modern law enforcement world.”
Kb,
The use of badge or ID by sworn LEO’s to get out of minor jams is not unheard of and they even have a euphuism for it. Are you suggesting that badges be eliminated to deal with the problem of “professional courtesy” between law enforcement officers?
Whether a badge and/or ID is issued to a sworn LEO or non-sworn volunteers is irrelevant. It is trust! Does our Sheriff trust the volunteers in the PSR program to act professionally and ethically? Unfortunately, she has given her answer.
The PSR program is a very good one. They don’t abuse their privileges, and if anyone does, they’re thrown out of the program. Most, if not all, Sheriff’s Departments around the state would have a similar program. These programs exist because there are “civilians” who have abilities that can augment the sworn staff and by relying on these people, the sworn staff can be freed up to work on other matters. I’m not a PSR (I don’t even live in Orange County), but it just frosts me that any Sheriff (including this one) would slap such a valuable program like this by essentially saying “I don’t trust you to follow the rules, so I’m pulling YOUR badge.” All this while keeping all the other badges that other non-sworn personnel still have.
The Sheriff has a lot of things she has to do that are very important. Yet, one of the first things she does is to slap the PSR program by essentially telling them that they’re untrustworthy. What is she thinking? I don’t know, but perhaps she’s reading out of the LA Sheriff’s Playbook…
There are more problems with Sworn Officers abusing their badges than these PSR people…
The badges are not the problem…
There is the perception that badges were given to people as a reward for donations, or for other less altruistic reasons.
The Sheriff could have investigated the program, and, if she found it of value, she could have easily stood up, defended and shown support for the program.
Instead, her decision to recall the badges indicate she see no value and only serve to validate the original perceptions or favoritism and corruption.
Civilians shouldn’t have badges issued to them by law enforcement. This should be the first step for removal of all badges from all civilians issued badges by the Orange County.Sheriff’s Department.
That pilot was violating PSR policies by keeping that badge on him when he wasn’t on official PSR business. He openly admits in this article he was violating that policy. I guess there are levels of “abusing” the badges.
I think Tom Slayton who runs the program needs to get his facts straight … “None of those, Slayton notes, were professional reserves”.
I believe those mentioned WERE part of the original 86 under Carona which were called Level IIII Reserves (which by the way was decided that there is no such thing legally).
PSR stands for Professional Service Responder. How is it, that the person responsible for running the program could make such a huge error when being quoted for the newspaper? A media outlet that everyone assumes is fact?
Hutchins is using her LA mentality to get rid of anything with bad press rather than working for the correct solution. She has not done anything yet other than what she thinks is best, which for her means just get rid of anything with bad press. How about you do something with some forethought for a change, “change agent” Hutchins?
Frankfurter,
I have no idea why you think it is a violation of policy to have the badge available, but not showing. I suspect that Tim is on call 24/7 to support the Sheriff. There are many in the PSR in the same situation. They need to have their ID readily available when they are called into service. I just don’t see having the badge/ID in your possession in anticipation of a callout is a violation of policy.
If you don’t see any value in Tim’s service to the county, then say so. But, be prepared to pay more taxes to foot the bill for a charter plane the next time the department need to transport a crime victim with privacy and dignity.
PSR Volunteer, maybe it was the email Lt. Slayton sent out stating “All of you are fully aware that it is against department policy to carry your credentials when not serving as a PSR.” Being “on call” and “serving as a PSR” are two different things. When you speak to the Lt. on the 16th, ask him what he means by that if you have any on what those phrases mean.
This Sheriff is quickly showing she’s ready for Amateur Hour, and not much more.
Issuing an emergency revocation of credentials - badges and ID’s - tells the PSRs and the rest of the world that the PSRs don’t have the trust or confidence of the Sheriff. LAPD didn’t even do that in the Rampart scandal, when officers were moonlighting as hit-men.
If that’s what she meant to do, she did it well. She took the first step toward disbanding the unit. That’s her right if she wants to. But now she says she has complete faith in the PSRs, that they haven’t misused the badges or ID’s and and she hopes they all remain active.
She could have issued a slightly different statement. She could have said she’s changing the name of the unit, new credentials are being prepared to reflect that change, please turn in your old ones. If she’d done that nobody would have blinked. But apparently she didn’t think that far ahead and didn’t bother to ask anyone from the program what they thought. Now she’s insulted 400 people who would have been her strongest supporters, for nothing.
A boy scout troupe leader would have handled this better.
Frankfurter,
Then I was in violation when I had my ID in my possession when I traveled to CSD to turn it in since I was not serving as a PSR at that time. And the county is much safer now that I no longer can impersonate someone who cares.
FrankFurter, I volunteer for a different agency in a different county. We are on call 24/7. I always keep my emergency response gear and ID in my vehicle. In times of disaster, I will not get through police or fire lines without that ID. How would that be any different for a PSR, who may be called at any time to assist in an emergency?
Frankfurter,
Only real cops should have badges and only real cops should be afforded “professional courtesy.”
Get a clue. It’s not the badge. It’s the person behind the badge. Full time sworn LEO’s don’t have a lock on ethics. Don’t agree? See my previous post at 11:22am.
Many of the reserve units the Sheriff’s Civilian Responders (formerly called PSRs) are attached to request their personnel keep a “go bag” in their vehicles in case of a call out. Common sense would tell you that included among other essentials would be a department issued ID which until recently was a case containing an ID card and the badge shown in this article. I cannot find in the department manual where storing your department ID in your vehicle is a violation.
Someone should ask this question of new Sheriff. How many complaints have there been regarding misuse of the Civilian Responders Id’s? I think we know the answer. Another question should be asked. Aren’t you really just trying to appease the Deputy’s union? And the answer is - fewer volunteer’s = more overtime!
429 upset civilians may not seem that important to you Sheriff but remember this, we vote and so do our family members, friends and associates.
I have no problem is she wants to pull the badges. Great! take ALL away. From the BOS, Judges, City Managers, council members and ALL retired deputies.
What I do have a problem with is her and the LT. total lack of professionalism. A political action committee has been formed “Orange County Professionals Seek Respect”. that PAC will teach them both to be professional the hard way.
“She could have issued a slightly different statement. She could have said she’s changing the name of the unit, new credentials are being prepared to reflect that change, please turn in your old ones. If she’d done that nobody would have blinked. But apparently she didn’t think that far ahead and didn’t bother to ask anyone from the program what they thought. Now she’s insulted 400 people who would have been her strongest supporters, for nothing.”
DOH! That was already done. The original name was “Professional Service Reserve” changed to “Civilian Responder”.
The original Badge was a deputy badge with “Professional Service Reserve” (The Golden Star, published by OCSD page 87) changed to Civilian Responder (The Golden Star, page 89). Because this was already done, it proves her intent. Her actions spoke louder than words. Nobody here is going Baaaaaa, the sheepdogs WILL prevail.
We don’t like wolves disguised as sheepdogs. The sheepdogs will devour the wolf. Jones and Mayer have supplied the silver bullet.
If Tim Reynolds doesn’t have any Civilian Responder badge or ID, and he goes to transport a minor child back to OC again, how does he prove that he’s really doing this for the OC Sheriff, and he’s not just there to kidnap the kid again?
Last year, during the terrible Santiago fires, an emergency request for service went out to PSR working with Search & Rescue. Additional PSR’s were called on to support communications, logistics and still more served in other critical roles.
Each PSR’s had to cross police and fire lines to get where needed. Entry to the fire area was controlled by various agencies including CHP, Anaheim PD, Orange PD, and other state and local agencies not familier with the PSR program. PSR’s with badges were routinely waved through those police lines and allowed to get to where they were needed. PSR’s without badges where held at the line, sometimes for hours, until ID was confirmed.
PSR actions during the fire were praised by the department, and were the subject of very positive newspaper and news radio reports. It only happened becasue PSR’s had the credentials to get where they needed to be.
Contrary to what others may think or have heard, the badges did serve a legitimate purpose.
Walt Lear,
The situation with Tim is typically not one that would require an ID. Normal deployment with a member’s regular unit usually do not require an ID. The unit member are known so there is not issue. However, the emergency deployment described by Drumstick is where ID’s are essential. Granted, a majority of the time a PSR is deployed will not require an ID. However, the Sheriff and her staff need to think the process through and must consider how the PSR have been utilized in the pass and how they will be utilized in the future. If there is an emergency today and the services of PSR’s are required, there are 100 of them who will not be able to identify themselves. Thus the hast to recall the badges and ID was not well though out. Just pray we do not have an emergency requiring mass callout of PSR’s while the Sheriff is figuring out what to do with the badges and ID.
Walt Lear Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 1:59 pm
If Tim Reynolds doesn’t have any Civilian Responder badge or ID, and he goes to transport a minor child back to OC again, how does he prove that he’s really doing this for the OC Sheriff, and he’s not just there to kidnap the kid again?
Maybe it was the two Sheriff’s Department investigators, Mario Gutierrez and Mike Starnes, on the plane that traveled with him that prevented him from “kidnapping the kid again”. You should seriously think that stuff out ahead of time before trying to say that the PSR was going to do that.
The article says a Lt. Slayton was “the man in charge” of the PSR program. Well, if the program is screwed up and the cause of so many problems, one obvious conclusion is it must have been poorly managed.
If the person running the program can’t effectively manage it, pulling ID cards and badges won’t solve a thing.
What’s with the one quick swipe at mentioning the PSR’s are mainly “guys”? A non-sequitor like that is a borderline insult. Even if there is only ONE female PSR, a worthy mention instead of a drive-by is warranted.
What I really wonder is what other people will do when their non-officer badges are called in. Will the same callous manner of asking for them back be used on those people?
TSIMB:
Slayton is not the man who decided to give badges out - that was the work of former Sheriff Mike Carona, no?
TSIMB - I say they need to eliminate the person responsible for the program at the time of all the problems - Lt. Tom Slayton. If he knew there were legal issues at hand, then he is at fault.
AmiFoxxe - If, IF, the badges of the board of supervisors and others in the county are recalled, they will not do so in such a callous manner as they did with the PSRs. The Sheriff is a politician first, as her recent activities have portrayed, and she will not do anything to make the BoS mad or other “badge-holding” elected officials that hold office.
“The Sheriff is a politician first, as her recent activities have portrayed, and she will not do anything to make the BoS mad or other “badge-holding” elected officials that hold office.”
Glad you read between the lines well.
Bingo! We have a winner!!!
TSIMB wins the prize.
The PSR program is being destroyed from the inside. Slayton is the one who wants the badges back. He’s the one who suggested it.
During the short period between Hutchen’s selection and swearing in, Slayton tried to pull in badges all on his own. If he had is way, this would have happened long ago.
Slayton has a problem with PSR badges and as anyone who has read his insulting emails knows, Slayton is NOT a friend of the program.
When this program come falling down, Slayton will be the one with the biggest smile.
Are they going to take away the badges from the Claim Jumper waiters next ?
I am not a PSR, but am a 35+ year resident of Orange County. This new Sheriff is completely out of touch with the citizens of Orange County. I am amazed how focused she is on dismanteling the PSR and CCW programs. She will cost us untold millions of dollars if she continues in this direction. Why replace volunteer hours with costly law enforsement dollars? She clearly has an agenda which fits best in Los Angeles or San Francisco. Why she is targeting loyal, civic minded Orange County residents is something the Board of Supervisiors need to explain to us. They hired her. What a mistake..
It’s getting to the point where I don’t recognize my own county anymore. At least Caron’a alleged abuses were kept out of the public eye and he gave credit where credit was due to the volunteers working in the PSR program. To see them publically embarrassed this way is very disturbing. The fact that they are still willing to serve makes them better humans than I am. Shameful.
I am not sure why Lt. Slayton states that carrying the PSR credential while not on PSR duty is against department regulations. This seem to be an unreasonable and unworkable restriction. Section 5.52 of the Policy and Procedures Manual covers the use of badge, ID, and uniform for PSR members. Per the policy, PSR members are not to display anything that can identify them as being a member of the OCSD unless they are performing official PSR duties. Badge, ID and uniform are not to be used for any purpose other than official department business. So Frankfurter’s indictment of Tim Reynolds is complete inaccurate. Having the badge and ID readily available but not openly displayed is completely within department policy. The current policy regarding badges is reasonable and well understood by the members.
Justbelowme writes:
“The Sheriff is a politician first, as her recent activities have portrayed, and she will not do anything to make the BoS mad or other “badge-holding” elected officials that hold office.”
Sheriffs are USUALLY politicians first, because they hold an elected office. So far this one has been a particularly BAD politician. Objecting to the award of the architect contract for the DA’s DNA lab was a very bad move. It had no chance of succeeding, and only served to a) make the DA mad 2) make the BOS mad and 3) make her look stupid.
Not a good thing to do when you’re just starting out in a job.
I disagree with the Sheriff on many points, I’ll vote against her in 2010. But policy aside, she’s just clumsy. If she’s the best and brightest LA had, no wonder they’re in such awful shape.
It’s not about the badge or Identification card. It’s about Sheriff Hutchens dismantling a program and then starting a new one with a different name under her command. She needs to take credit for something, so why not start with the PSR program, who’s volunteer’s have contributed their time and money to assist the Orange County residents and Sheriff Department. Good work Sandra! What are you going to do for an encore?
Lt. Tom Slayton mentions that the badges don’t belong to the people. Well Tom, Sandra Hutchens was not appointed by the people. You can have your badges back now. We will have the peoples Sheriff in 2010.
This is so much to do about nothing. Admittedly, Sheriff Hutchens may have jumped on the anti-”PSR” program a little early, and honestly given to much of the communication responsibilities to Lt, Slayton (whom has not been very articulate or empathic). But the true facts still remain. Public perception of this program is horrible. I’ve shaken the hand of Mike Corona one time, when I received — the now infamous — badge. Yet, just about everyone that knows anything about OC politics has found out that I am in the program asks what I did for Corona to get in — not good.
The truth is, the county’s peoples perception is ALL of our reality. From the tower of power of the Sheriff, to the PSRs and every person in between in the department as well as the public at-large and the press.
The best communications strategy for the department is/was to remove any potential for — even the slightest chance of — favoritism. So, we get new ID cards and we don’t have badges. Our uniforms on duty clearly signify to the public our roles. And our new IDs clearly define our role when approaching the scene.
What’s the big deal?
We’re in it for the community, the community has weighed in with a regular barrage of negative perception permeated through the press in editorials, letters and quotes to news reporters. Why is it a bad re-wrap the program so we can do what we like to do — help? Most importantly this is a chance for the people actually know the impact of what we do and think of us in a positive light instead of limp puppets of the now (innocent until proven guilty) Mike Corona. Honestly, the “badge grab” negative comments about the department solely because they are taking the badges plays directly into the hands of the people trying to eliminate the program. It reinforces the import of the badge to the PSR and doesn’t help dispel the perception that PSRs are in it for the badge. It’s amazing to me that PSRs don’t see this.
BTW: I recently saw Sheriff Hutchens speak and personally, I think she’s just what the Dr. ordered.
I will say this again and again. It is not about the badge. It is about how the Sheriff acted. You are correct that the public perception of the program is a major problem. That is why it hurts us even more when the Sheriff took the action she did. She has now added fuel to the fire. Her action to remove the badges immediately amplifies the already negative perception. Most people not associated with the program will consider her action as further indictment of our guilt which is merely by association. Her action also failed to consider the need for identification by some members of the program.
I have never met Sheriff Hutchens and I am sure she is a very likable person. However, it does not mean we cannot be critical of her action especially when such action has a demoralizing effect on us volunteers.
I appreciate your opinion, however, I do disagree.
If you have a fire, you have to get rid of the fuel - or work very hard to suppress the fuel — to put it out. Why work hard to change a fairly ingrained predisposition of the public that badges bad and just recognize that the badges are a flash point for the public. They are a symbol of excess power and they represent ill-gotten gains (from the publics view) for all PSRs who display them. They are considered to be the Rosetta Stone of Mike Corona’s power brokering by most knowledgeable observers. Give Mike money, you get a badge — and maybe a CCW as a sweet little power accoutrement. From a leadership, communications and go-forward strategy perspective, it was the right thing to do for the county, the sheriff’s department and the PSRs. With this fuel gone, hopefully, smarter communications strategies will prevail and PSRs will be recognized for their on-call, time and personal financial investment in the department and the community.
Until the fuel is gone, there will be no leadership credibility and no reshaping of the program. I would hope that with some communications effectiveness and messaging clarity on the mission, value and values of PSRs donating their time that we could achieve much more opportunity within the department then we enjoy today.
As far as Sheriff Hutchens, I respect that every person has the right to question the motives and strategies of an elected official (even if they do run a para-military organization with a chain of command). I would just say, the reason I am writing anything on this board is that I want some to know that sentences like this: “especially when such action has a demoralizing effect on us volunteers.” would be better characterized — from my perspective — “especially when such action has a demoralizing effect on SOME volunteers.”
When fighting a fire, you do need to get rid of the fuel. What the Sheriff did was to add fuel to the fire. Her approach to the problem was not well though out. The collateral damage could and should have been avoided. The several changes in the order and the strong negative opinion express by some demonstrates that.
You do not agree with my assessment. However, the volunteers that I have spoke to are disappointed at the way this situation was handled. We expected better management and people skill from our Sheriff.
Sorry to burst your bubble OCSD PSR. But the doctor didn’t order Sandra Hucthens. Neither did the people of OC.
Fuel the fire? Why by pissing off a bunch of “badge” holders. The bottom line is it isn’t about what the volunteers think. It’s about what’s best for the community and the long term credibility and validity of the program. If the fuel is that a bunch of volunteers are getting upset because they lost their badge and they’re going quit then I would submit they weren’t in it to do service to the community, they were in it for the badge, and they are hiding behind this “indignation” to mask their true feelings. PSR Volunteer, your sample group is all wrong, if you query people outside of the program I think you’ll find yourself in a pinprick of a minority.
Now you’re going to say the “manner” in which we were informed was unbefitting to PSRs. Huey! On the one hand the badges mean nothing to the PSRs on the other the way in which PSRs were notified was unbecoming to a person that “earned” the badge. It’s a big circle *erk.
My last comment would be that someone might want to set OCSD Volunteer straight (or if I might stoop to paraphrase “burst his bubble”) on a how the people of OC DID select Sandra Hutchens. While clearly not your choice, the Orange County Supervisors are your elected officials. They, did select Sandra Hunchens on the wave of their constituents, which I hazard to guess, there is reasonable odds the supervisor you voted for, voted for Sandra Hutchens for this job. Based on what I’ve seen, she’s going to be pretty hard to beat out in 2010.
Why can’t you seem to get it through your head? It is not about the badge. It is about the way she handle the situation. I can think of several ways in which to handle this so that her message get across to both the public and the volunteers. She could have done it in a way so as to get the volunteers to support what she is doing. She could have done it in such a way as to not insult the integrity of SOME of the members. Definite example of poor management technique.
Her is an example of fueling the fire. Based on the fact that the Sheriff is revoking the badges, a security officer with a large aerospace company in southern California has determined that the PSR program is corrupt and membership in this program can jeopardize security clearance. The theory is why would the Sheriff take such drastic action if only a few volunteers are causing a problem. If she is revoking all the badges, then there is a systemic problem with the program. Like I said already, could have been and should have been handled differently.
The manner in which we were notified is unbefitting of a team member. She could have taken the time to address us and let us know what she planned to do. If she has a good argument for her action, she should have been able to get us behind her. It goes a lot smoother this way then to do damage control which is what she will do later this month.
I have not seen anywhere that the new Sheriff has said that any volunteers are not welcome in the Sheriffs dept. She has not said there time spend was not welcomed. She has not slapped any one in the face with any statements, she is simply going to handle this badge issue different than Mike Corona. Let her do the job she has been hired to do, and quit second guessing any decisions. All this hype is everyone reacting to other peoples posts not what the sheriff has said. AKA RUMORS, don’t assume you what that does to you!! It makes an a++ u-me.
[...] A few weeks ago, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens ordered the professional service responders unit – a fancy name for people who donate their talents to the department but aren’t full-fledged reserves — to turn back their official-looking badges. [...]