Erie County Executive Brenton Davis uses police-like badge to ID himself. Is it appropriate?

Shortly after taking office in 2022, Erie County Executive Brenton Davis used public funds to purchase six police-like badges for himself and members of his administration, according to financial records obtained by the Erie Times-News.

The gold wallet badges, which cost $140 apiece, $840 collectively, carry no law enforcement authority, but allow Davis to quickly identify himself, both to civilians and law enforcement officials, according to Erie County Public Information Officer Chris Carroll.

Carroll said Davis has used his badge on multiple occasions, including at a crime scene in Millcreek Township, a flood in Union City and to inform hunters to stay off county property in Fairview Township.

While Carroll said it is “common practice” for county executives across the country to carry such badges, other county leaders, including those with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said they are not aware of any such cases.

"I don’t know of anyone that does that," said Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel, who served as CCAP president in 2021 and who was appointed CCAP board chairman in 2022. “I would actually say, in all of my eight years (as commissioner), I’ve never seen that happen."

Erie County Sheriff Chris Campanelli, who's served in the Sheriff's Office for more than 25 years, echoed that he’s “never seen anybody carry a badge outside of law enforcement."

Former Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper added that she didn’t carry a police-like badge when she served in office and stressed that “as county executive, you’re not law enforcement.”

“Having a badge like that can bring forward the perception that you’re in a different role than you really are,” she said. “I think that would be problematic.”

Where were the badges purchased?

The badges were purchased from Uniform Outfitters, LLC, an Erie-based business that has provided uniforms and equipment to first responders in the Erie area since 2015, according to the business’s website.

The purchase included two badges for Davis and one each for his then Director of Administration Doug Smith, now Joe Sinnott; Director of Public Safety John Grappy and two deputy public safety directors.

The badges, which have a shield design, contain the seal of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and are branded with the title of each official.

Davis’ badges are branded with “county executive” and “007,” in reference to Davis being the seventh Erie County executive, according to Carroll.

Davis also purchased a wallet for $32.99 to hold his badge.

"The county executive carries a badge in his wallet at all times in case he has to respond to an incident,” Carroll said.

When has Davis used his badge?

Carroll said Davis has used his badge at various times, including in the aftermath of a Sept. 5 shooting and fire along East Gore Road in Millcreek Township.

Carroll said Davis approached the scene and displayed his badge and title to Pennsylvania state troopers who were called in from Clarion County to investigate.

“By doing so, the county executive quickly communicated his role to coordinate the delivery of requested light towers to the Pennsylvania State Police for the purpose of an overnight investigation,” Carroll said.

Carroll also said Davis used his badge in 2022 when he passed by Pleasant Ridge Manor in Fairview Township and noticed “active hunting” on the adjacent county property.

“He stopped to inform the hunters that they were on county property and it was not appropriate for hunting,” Carroll said of Davis. “The hunters did not recognize him, so he presented his badge and county-issued ID to identify himself. The situation was resolved immediately and without issue.”

Carroll added: "At each of these incidents, this badge proved to be effective as the county executive was not immediately recognized and it helped to deter potential misunderstanding."

What prompted the need for a badge?

Carroll said Davis felt the need to get a badge following the April 5, 2022, shooting at Erie High School that left one victim injured.

Carroll said Davis went to the site to “offer county services to support the overall emergency management effort,” but he was not recognized by the emergency personnel at the scene.

“Following this incident, the county executive discussed this with his peers at a county executive’s roundtable and found the use of badges is a standard practice for those who supervise their emergency management systems,” Carroll said. “This prompted him to look at how Erie County Emergency Management officials are identified in various circumstances.”

Carroll said the roundtable was a National Association of Counties event.

He added, “(Davis) determined that a series of badges for officials that may not be immediately identified at an emergency scene would help to keep this situation from recurring.”

Davis purchased the first three badges three weeks after the shooting. He purchased the other three in August 2022.

The administration initially contacted the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office to inquire where they got their badges, according to both offices.

Is this a problem?

While Carroll said Davis made sure the badges “in no way resembled existing county law enforcement badges,” the idea of elected civilian officials carrying police-like badges has been a point of contention in other jurisdictions.

In 2019, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey signed a bill into law that prohibited municipalities and counties in the state from issuing badges to non-law enforcement elected officials.

The law was largely the result of a 2018 incident, in which a port authority commissioner flashed a gold-plated badge during a traffic stop, in an effort to prevent the impounding of her daughter’s friend’s car, according to a report on NJ.com.

A report by the Institute for Local Government, which offers resources for officials on public service ethics in California, notes that elected officials who carry such badges "are not peace officers, nor is their role in government and the community anything like that of a trained peace officer."

The report refers to an opinion from California's former Attorney General John Van de Kamp, who stated the general public typically associates badges that are designed in the shapes of shields or stars with law enforcement.

Such badges, he stated, would "likely deceive an ordinary reasonable person into believing that the investigators have the authority of peace officers."

As far as the badges being branded with the official's title, Van de Kamp noted that badges are often "flashed" and people react to a badge out of fear or respect.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy, who serves as president of the County Executives of America, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, said there's no standard for county executives when it comes to carrying badges.

"Some county executives are actually reserve police officers, so they got ID cards that say 'reserve police' with a police officer’s badge," McCoy said.

McCoy stressed the importance of the standard county-issued identification that every executive receives as a county employee and played down the importance of any other badge that's branded with "county executive," stating "it’s not going to get me two cents at the gum machine."

The Erie Times-News initially requested to speak with Davis about the badges. Carroll responded by telling the Erie Times-News to submit all questions to him instead.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on X @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County Executive Davis uses police-like badge to ID himself