CHL BADGES

[TxFire]

Go ahead and buy one and when it arrives in the mail promptly put it on your trinket shelf and make sure it never leaves the confines of your home again.

Or just don't buy one.

[jimlongley]

Up to 24/0

Think of it this way. The only person you could legitimately display the badge to would be the one most likely to arrest you for impersonating a LEO, that is, A LEO.

I don't have the relevant law at my fingertips, but I'll bet that TXInvestigator does, and it's pretty much a no-no.

A whole bunch of years ago I was a volunteer fireman and had a cop tell me that he was going to arrest me for impersonating an officer just for having the badge in a badge and pass case in my pocket. I also received the same "advice" for having it pinned to the inside of my fire jacket.

In the first situation I was able to point out that the reason he had seen my badge case was because I had emptied my pockets at a security checkpoint and he turned me loose with notice that he had better never see me flash it, etc.

The second time I was bending over to pick up some items at the scene of a rescue and my jacket gaped open, and the cop standing nearby saw the badge. He was from my town and was a little more circumspect, but did ask why I would bother to carry it if all it would do was get me in trouble.

[Tom]

Allow me.

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges! HA HA HA HA."

Banditos in Blazing Saddles

Anygun

And the original quote:

"Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges!"
"El Bandido", as played by Alfonso Bedoya in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948)


And I agree that a CHL badge is less than prudent, for all of the reasons stated, and more.

Kind Regards,

Tom

[txinvestigator]

Well, that about takes care of the badge opinions....


In the US, the badge has become a symbol of authority, specifically law enforcement. Security guards do wear badges, but they are generally in a specific enviornment where they have certain authority granted contractually.

It can only lead to problems to wear a badge when one is not in such a position of authority.

I too, am interested in your motivation for desiring to wear a CHL badge. Maybe I am missing something.

[nuparadigm]

Welcome to the forum, Phillip!

Badges on plain-clothes people cause confusion among the good guys. Among the good guys, the confusion will soon branch into suspicion and the suspicion will probably have them lead you down a road that you don't want to travel.

A badge without credentials is a worthless piece of metal. I'd advise you to use the money you'd spend on a badge for range fees instead.

[MoJo]

+1 to all the above.

[txinvestigator]

Texas Penal Code
§37.11. Impersonating public servant.

(a) A person commits an offense if he:

(1) impersonates a public servant with intent to induce
another to submit to his pretended official authority or to rely on
his pretended official acts; or

(2) knowingly purports to exercise any function of a public
servant or of a public office, including that of a judge and court,
and the position or office through which he purports to exercise a
function of a public servant or public office has no lawful existence
under the constitution or laws of this state or of the United States.

(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree.

[Cosmo 9]

Welcome aboard Phillip! You sure know how to open up with a loaded question. Please don't take it personal but I think everyone here will say "bad idea" to the badges. This is a great forum with a ton of excellent information.

[jimlongley]

I don't understand why having a badge while you are a firefighter (volunteer or not) is a big problem.

You are a public servant.

What's the problem with having a firefighter badge?

Well, I would agree, but I was in NY State at the time and the law was even more specific than TX. If you showed a badge, then you were acting with intent, even at a fire or rescue scene. The only ones "authorized" to wear a badge, except at formal ceremonies and parades, were Fire Police (we had one in our department) and (sworn) Fire Investigators.

Most of the firemen that I knew carried their badges anyway, but the fireman badge was smaller and pretty much recognizeably different from a police badge. I should have made clear though, I was a Lieutenant at the time, and the resemblance between an officers' larger gold badge, at least the ones we used, and the detective unit in the nearby city was very high.

Interestingly enough, I had a simliar conversation with a friend who happened to be a NY State Policeman, and he pointed out that you never saw a trooper with a badge on unless it was a dress occasion. After that conversation I watched for it and did note that was so.

OTOH, I, probably illegally, stopped traffic for a couple of wrecks by flashing my badge, and also "officiated" at fire scenes with the badge on.

The TX statute at least includes "intent" where in NY the intent was assumed, but you are probably going to wind up explaining yourself to a judge if a LEO takes exception to your badge.

[carlson1]

Welcome to the Forum Philip. Good question. I am glad you are in the right place to ask. Don't let some of the sharp answers turn you away this is a great place. These guys are quick and sharp and powerful. No problem with the badge if you want one, but you only have to ID yourself to authorities and only when they ask for ID, so it is not really worth the money if think about. Again, we are glad you are here and I know you will learn as much as I have just by hanging around.

[spud]

My vote makes it 0 - 34.

Blazing Saddles said it best...
Badges? We dont need no stinkin badges!!!

(I know that quote came from another movie 1st, but I like Mel Brooks)

[age_ranger]

Ok, i'll be honest about it...I had though of getting one when I first looked into getting my CHL. New, uneducated me.......I thought that if by some chance, I accidentally flashed while carrying, it might put someone at ease about seeing my gun if they saw a badge next to it. Since then I've learned that the best way to deal with that is to make sure I'm concealed and have a good cover garment and holster. A good holster makes a world of difference and choice of cover garments is just as important. After a while, you'll figure out what works best for you and be more comfortable with carrying without that "stinkin' badge". For the record, I never got one

[comsec]

Liken your concealed handgun license to deep cover. The benefit of a concealed weapon is the element of surprise in a tactical situation as discussed previously.

A shield/badge for a CHL holder ....."That's just wrong!"

Whoever voted for a badge needs to really examine their motives for wanting to possess one. There are so many liabilities....and no benefits IMHO.

Ø comsec out Ø

PS...your CHL is your badge if you ever need to show one

[Lumberjack98]

As of my vote it was 45 to 1.

There is no reason to have this badge. Who would you show it to and why? There are a lot of reasons not to have this badge and they have been outlined in previous posts.

Welcome to the forum!