Council OKs Centralized System to Monitor Badges
LOS ANGELES — Citing concerns about past abuses, the Los Angeles City Council adopted an ordinance Tuesday that takes authority away from dozens of city commissioners to carry city badges.
Long a perk of getting a mayoral appointment, the gold metal badges in leather cases look remarkably like shields carried by police officers.
The ordinance, approved on a 13-0 vote, removes the power of commissioners to buy badges and instead gives City Clerk Mike Carey the responsibility of issuing the gold shields only to those who get approval from the City Council.
Council President John Ferraro authored the proposal after incidents in which city commissioners were accused of misusing their badges.
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