- NEWS
- SPORTS
- Reading between the hash marks: Rick Neuheisel 2 minutes ago
- Ducks go to shootout to douse Flames
- UCLA's 10 most notable wins over USC 3 hours & 51 minutes ago
- Flames' Iginla serves as inspiration
- BUSINESS
- ENTERTAINMENT
- LIFE
- TRAVEL
- OPINION
PSR I love you
August 25th, 2008, 6:35 pm · 41 Comments · posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter
Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has said it time and again during the last two weeks, in media interviews and — on Monday – before a phalanx of news cameras: She highly values the 470 “professional service responders” who have volunteered 14,000 hours so far this year.
She just can’t let them keep the badges given to them under indicted Sheriff Michael S. Carona. They look too much like the ones given to deputies and sworn reserves, especially the early versions of the badge. See all three versions of the PSR badge above.
In a press conference, Hutchens noted that PSRs have piloted investigators to other states, helped patrol the airport, worked with the robots used by the hazardous materials unit and have manned the dispatch radios.
“We need to look at what the program represents today. Not what it represented in the past,” she said.
In other words, Hutchens is trying to remove the chip from the shoulders of those volunteers who think they are being punished for the group’s dubious beginnings. Court filings stemming from the Carona indicment allege the group began as a “buy a badge” scheme to pad Carona’s war chest.
In any case, Hutchens says the PSRs now have a lot for which to be proud. In that case, they need badges as badly as the Tinman needs a heart.
Click here and here for more PSR coverage.
41 Comments
Leave a Reply
-
ADVERTISEMENT
-
Follow this blog:
-
More from OC Watchdog reports-
ADVERTISEMENT
You can follow this blog: on 
It is my understanding that Carona’s command staff redesigned the badge to meet the AG’s guidelines. If that is the case, why is Hutchens claiming they are illegal? Did County Council approve an illegal act?
This is simply a case of Hutchens trying to distance herself from Carona on the backs of a bunch of solid volunteer citizens. Everyone knows the badge is useless, No one would mistake it for a LEO badge and she knows it. If she can’t tell the difference, as she claimed, then she should not be in Law Enforcement. It was symbolic of the department’s faith in the PSR’s and that is all. I doubt any of them will in any practical way miss them.
So all this is then is just another elitist move from the woman that feels so safe in Dana Point that even though she can carry a gun legally, she doesn’t feel she needs to.
Slapping PSR’s in the face and changing Orange County’s Concealed Carry Weapons permit process to match Los Angeles County’s draconian policy is just the beginning. Thank you Orange County Board of Supervisors. We are indebted to you for this wonderful new Sheriff you selected for us.
When is she going to “wake up and smell the coffee”? At the risk of sounding like a broken record, first of all, the badges are not “illegal” and do not violate the AG ruling on badges. That whole “line” is bogus and the Sheriff seems to think that somehow it will come true, if she keeps repeating it. We get that she is trying to appease anti-Carona people, by “cleaning up his mess”. Look at those badges above and tell me that anyone can look at the current model and mistake that for a “police officer”, as Sheriff Hutchens herself claims she would. Second, I said it before and I’ll say it again, forget about the badge. The disrespect and disdain the the Sheriff showed to the PSR program, in the way she handled the whole thing, is what is upsetting and embarrassing. At least she should have addressed the PSRs privately, before “plastering” the story in every paper in the area. Explain yourself to your volunteers before publicly castigating them and what they do for your department. And even when she tries to “smooth” things over, it’s the same lame line once again, “the badges are illegal”, instead of, “I’m sorry, I handled it the wrong way”.
BTW, just for the record, not that I have to say so, I did turn in my badge immediately and YES I continue to VOLUNTEER for the department. But, make sure that it is understood, I don’t do it for Sheriff Hutchens, I do it for the residents of Orange County, even those who seem to despise what I do (mostly because of the negative press that we have gotten). For me, it was NEVER EVER about a piece of metal, it was a sense of SERVICE and community pride.
That’s not what you said before. You might also reflect on the fact that she’s the sheriff and you’re not. Ergo, she owes you no explanation or justification. Some people go to pieces when they can’t come to terms with the realization that the world doesn’t have to kiss their butt.
Sandi, If this is how you manage your volunteers… How are you ever going to manage employees, prisoners…? Probably should read the book on “Winning Friends and Influencing People…” You must have missed that concept at the world famous University of La Verne… Where?
Hmm, I’m not a cop but I can tell the difference between a 6-point star and a badge with a circle around it. You don’t have to be a trained observer to notice the differences.
Plus, she completely missed the fact that these are not “gift” badges. They are issued badges to volunteer employees, just like the Reserve Deputies. If they were gifts, she could not “recall” them. And like the other non-law enforcement personnel that were issued badges under Sheriff Carona - the board of supervisors, mayors, chaplains, etc.
Lawman wrote,” That’s not what you said before. You might also reflect on the fact that she’s the sheriff and you’re not. Ergo, she owes you no explanation or justification. ”
For your education, the SHERIFF is an ELECTED official….. Which means she very well owes us an explanation and justification of her actions if she wishes to retain the job.
Lawman, I can only assume you are a law enforcement officer from your handle… Are you speaking on behalf of the Sheriff’s Department when you make this statement? Is it JUST you who is intoxicated with power? Or does that attitude reflect the Orange County Sheriff’s Department as a whole under Sheriff Hutchens? If so, its time for a new sheriff TODAY! NOW! Not 2 years from now because it conveys a level of corruption and arrogance to which Carona never even dared aspire.
I am a woman and I am not LEO and I can tell the difference. If Hutchens can’t tell the difference and she has been a cop for 30 years. Maybe its time she quits. If she can’t tell teh difference….what else CAN’T she do. grrrrrr. She makes us women look BAD!
Sounds like Hutchens can’t make up her mind. Just like she can’t tell the difference between a PSR badge and a Sheriff Badge.
One day…PSR’s are bad. Next day. We love PSR’s, we can’t opperate without them.
GUESS WHAT HUTCHENS….The Sheriff Dept would opperate a whole lot better IF YOU WERE GONE!
Go Back to LA. We don’t need or want you here in Orange County.
Lawman still hasn’t even gotten the word, Sandra Hutchens IS NOT an ELECTED official. She was APPOINTED by a lame BOS, which will also be taken care of in the next election.
Lawman, I greatly enjoy reading your posts and absorbing your wisdom. Like your superiors must have seen, I recognize your savvy political acumen, and command potential. Starting at a young age, I’m sure you fast tracked your way through the department kicking in doors and arresting bad guys. I’m sure you were quickly recognized with in the department at a young age which helped you achieve your ultimate career goal… the highly coveted rank of “I almost passed the Sergeants Exam” where you happily (bitterly) served out the remainder of your illustrious career.
When will she start working on REAL issues?? I had no idea the PSR and the CCW program were such huge issues in the OCSD.
.. oh wait they are not.
Get with the program Sheriff and do your job, don’t do what gets you in the press for not being Carona.
Are you running for political office Sheriff, sounds like it. You go LA Girl. Make us just as safe as LA.
Sandra, here’s the deal: By your own admission, you can’t get the job done without these people. They are the only leg of your department who can honestly say they do what they do not for any kind of reward or sense of empowerment, but BECAUSE IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. And you reward them how? By publicly lambasting them in the press and attempting to destroy their morale, and then playing “nice doggie” with them in private. Sorry, but it just doesn’t fly. Either you are with the PSR program, or you are against it. Your attempts to be both make you look weak and out of touch with the needs of the county. You lucked into this job (you certainly didn’t deserve it), and I hope you enjoy your stay because November, 2010 is not very far off. Personally, I’m waiting with baited breath for the day you get back on the horse you rode in on, and ride off into the sunset. We’ll still be here, we’ll clean up your mess, and this horrid chapter of OC’s law enforcement history will finally be behind us.
Lawman wrote,” That’s not what you said before. You might also reflect on the fact that she’s the sheriff and you’re not. Ergo, she owes you no explanation or justification. ”
If Lawman is giving her advise this explains how she is so out of step with Orange County residents… Only people in San Francisco would believe Erog Lawman that we are not to question.. That attitude went the way of the Berlin wall when it crumbled. We will never allow this to happen. Just wait for an election, not an appointment by 3 or 5 BOS.
If you think that badge looks like a LEO badge, check out the other 1,000 plus OCSD has issued to non sworn. They are a deputies badge with a ribbon change. You had a chaplain standing right behind you. NON SWORN!
I’d say that anyone who wants their badge as badly as some of the people posting on this blog seem to is exactly the sort of person who shouldn’t have anything that even REMOTELY resembles a real badge.
If you want to volunteer, then do so. If you don’t because you can’t have your badge, then quit. There are plenty of people who are happy to provide their services without a toy badge as a thank-you. in fact, the majority of the PSRs don’t seem to care one way or the other.
The sheriff has a great number of responsibilities to the department and to the people of OC, and this badge issue is a complete non-issue to 99.9% of the voters. Hutchens may or may not win in the next election, but it’s not going to be decided by a handful of whiners.
And what will you do when the next sheriff won’t give you a badge, either?
I have heard the Hutchens is a very nice person. That being said, it certainly doesn’t qualify her to be a good Sheriff. She obviously feels insecure about herself, she wears her uniform ALL of the time–”look, see? I really am the Sheriff! I have the outfit and everything!”, none of the established chiefs do that. She feels the need to constantly defend her decisions, publicly and usually with a bit of a re-edit to combat bad press. She makes many rookie mistakes that never even make it into the news. Her own people think she is a mess. Great. 2 more years of tap-dancing for the press…
and Jason, you are right about one thing, she has a great number of responsibilities she SHOULD be addressing but ISN’T. Why? Because that other stuff is hard and requires a real top cop with real top cop experience. Hutchens has none–she has never been that level of management in her life. She is in way over her head. Rookie.
Jason - All of the PSR’s I know who have turned in their badges have stated that they’ll continue to provide their services, and that they aren’t in it for the badge. What rubs them the wrong way is that of ALL the issues Sandy could have been addressing, she chose to attack the CCW and PSR programs first (even when there isn’t anything wrong with them by her own admission). She’s just out trying to put herself in the spotlight by choosing the easy issues to tackle, and getting her name in the media every chance she gets. Just like Villaraigosa. Must be something in the LA water that makes a person crave attention more than propriety.
I hate this new sheriff bring back Carona!!!! Vote her out and back to L.A. were she belongs.
I am so sick of SHEriff Hutchens twirling in circles on the PSR badge issue. People, it’s not about the badge… it’s about the way she has, and still is handling this situation. She gives the PSR’s bad press, then tries to appease them. All the while, the media continues to give the PSRs a bad rap.
I couldn’t care less about the badge which is too large to carry (even in a large purse) and isn’t needed for 95% of my volunteer time. I care about the way she is giving the PSRs a bad name. Is she just doing this for the press?
The program was revamped years ago (and so were the badges) when it was determined that the program wasn’t legal and the badges AND ID looked too much like sworn law enforcement. Agencies that I work with all over the state think this whole issues caused by the SHEriff is stupid. This is a nationally recognized program and she is dragging it through the dirt.
I am utterly disgusted at the lack of trust shown by the SHEriff to the people she claims the department needs the most!
Suppose this is why the issue of an “outsider” kept rearing it’s ugly head durning the appointment process. E.g. bringing in someone from LA and “hoping” they might somehow get up to speed at OCSD in 2 years so that they would be “electible” in 2010. Doesn’t look like it is happening, does it? Her goal with the PSR’s was a “me first” political move without any real understanding as to what it was they actually do. Pretty sure she still lacks any firm understanding of the interworkings or personel within the Department. Just like Carona, her “advisors” are running the Department and the press conferences
Sour grapes from podunk people who can’t handle change. I’m still laughing out loud at all the bitter and false assumptions in here from pouting little children.
Only I.D. these volunteers need is a laminated I.D. card. Badges to non-sworn personnel have always been trouble…..period.
I don’t even live near orange county but I’m compelled to check this story out as long as it runs. The way I view it is I think its completely stupid subject for the Sheriff to keep focusing on and this has to be taking attention away from important things that trouble most counties e.g. county jail problems and immigration etc…
It seems these badges are such a big deal to her as well as to the media, I think I’ll go ahead and make the first step at home too and revoke my six year old sons badge that his mom got him at Toy’s R Us (It looks more real than those badges)!!.
I think if (A.G. Jerry Brown) could go back and re-write his opinion all over again and maybe he could take more time and do it himself with the help of some top law enforcement agencies. instead of his deputy A.G.
Don’t forget even he was caught with his pants down too, after they figured out that almost every (Deputy D.A) which are non-sworn in california had one, oops! Doesn’t anyone remember him as the Govoner DUH?
Conclusion:
Since the days of tombstone sheriffs, marshall and PD Chiefs Have been giving out badges and even guns and probley will continue to do so until the end of time. For the most part it usually stems from good intentions. If by some accident a moron is given a badge and he decides to be an idiot and misuse it and yes I know there are morons out there then he/she should pay the price. If people continue to think a badge means power of authority, then lets get all law enforcement to purchase some of those canadian mounted police uniforms (I’m sure people won’t misuse those), God Bless Volunteers!!!
It really isn’t the lack of a badge that’s the issue. It is the assumption that said badges were “given” to them “by Carona”. This assumption continues to prevail, including in OC Watchdog’s 8/25 update. PSR volunteers who worked hard to earn those badges, and were never political cronies of Carona, or donated anything to him, justifiably resent the implication that they are complicit in Carona’s corruption.
All this talk of badges got me wondering…..where in the hell is mine? It took a while but I finally found it in my sock drawer. I guess I should start looking for my gun.
All right, I live out of state but hail from the o.c. I am not an officer, but am a dispatcher. I see badges all the time and see people flipping open ID’s that are meant to impress people and make them look important.
If someone is at your door and they flip open an ID with one of these PSR badge inside, and you are not “savvy” to law enforcement badges…you are going to mistake the badge for a real one.
My take on the passions being displayed on this page makes me think people do not want to give back their department issued badges and are using them to inflate their ego’s and make themselves look good.
Hey Rocky, you need to run for Sheriff…at least you have the respect of the majority of the dept.
Lawman: I can only surmise from your comments that you are either sleeping with the She-riff or you want to…..
Two things.
1. These volunteers do not need badges. All they need is an ID card that identifies their position that they can show to deputies or other L/E upon request. If they want a badge, go through the academy and become a deputy/officer. And like many here have said before, the PSR’s I have talked to don’t even care. They were never in it for the badge.
2. This whole idea of “flashing your badge” to get out of something or as a way to ID your self as a LEO is a Hollywood’ism (unless you are LAPD). If someone shows me a badge, I say “That’s nice. Let me see your laminated, department issued “peace officer” ID card with your photo on it.” Anyone can walk around with a tin star in their wallet. I want to see the photo ID card.
Why this is still a story in the paper, I will never understand.
Wow Carona Redux you really show your stupidity when you complain
about Sheriff Hutchens weaing the uniform all the time. If I remember that loser Anderson and Crook Carona did too. So what is your point?I think it great that she does wear it as it shows how proud she is to be part of the Department.
Station 18vetern: “that loser Anderson and Crook Carona did too.”
Thanks! You just made my point!
Yes Carona Redux you have no point!!!!!
Ooooo-oweee! That was quite the comeback…18vet! How long did it take for you to come up with that zinger?
BTW, 18, because I can no longer handle your grammatical and spelling errors and your idiot logic, I will ignore you. Have a nice day.
DUH Says:
Why this is still a story in the paper, I will never understand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you, that’s what I’ve been asking.
People like Lawman seem to think it is important to keep it alive.
Wow Carona Redumb how can you stand yourself,you must spend all your time in front of a mirror.You must be a legend in your own mind!!
For all those that think the PSR badge looks nothing like an offical Sheriff’s badge and could not be mistaken for a real officer, in the year 2000 the Orange County Sheriff’s Department issued all SWORN personnel the “millenium” badge. This badge is EXACTLY the same as the PSR badge, except for the obvious different wording. We still have these millenium badges, so yes the PSR badges do look like real badges! Suggestion; The Oange County Sheriff’s Department is a County agency. So issue the non-sworn volunteer’s an ID card bearing the County of Orange seal, not the Sheriff’s star in any fashion. For anyone needing to check the credentials of the volunteers, an official ID card with proper information on it will suffice. A badge is an easily recognizable symbol of enforcement, not an icon that represents anyone affiliated with a law enforcement agency.
If you carry a gun, you carry a badge. There should be no exception.
And by the way..Thank you to all Reserves and volunteers, your service is greatly appreciated and you are all welcome in my patrol car anytime!
oclawman, apparently you missed the news, PSRs ARE issued a county ID with a picture AND the word CIVILIAN clearly printed on them.
Well, I see Carona Redux got buried by the cats again. Listen little genius, she’s supposed to wear her uniform. The legendary Daryl Gates wore his uniform the majority of the time as does Bill Bratton. Frankly, most chiefs and sheriffs do. Is the cop on the beat insecure because he wears his uniform? Your statement that none of the established chiefs do that is exactly like you: senseless and in the dark. Run outside and play now. The adults are talking.
And take Tommy Boy with you. He makes about as much sense as you do.
Look, Lawman, you must not come into contact with Chiefs very often. They wear their uniform for official events or press. Otherwise, they rarely wear them at all. But you are either too low on the food chain to see a chief in his/her everyday attire or you are one of those who feels so insecure that YOU wear your uniform every day. Judging from your posts you are a simply one of the many sycophants who flop in the wind whichever way it decides to blow. Go back to kissing the she-riff’s green hind-end and let the intellectuals speak…..