Pinheaded excuse for badgeless police
An internal investigation cleared police officers who failed to wear name badges while policing APEC protests. The excuse? Pins on badges could be used as "weapons" against the officers. Naturally it is important to guard against the danger of police officers being pin-pricked to death. But don't cops usually wear Velcro badges in these sorts of circumstances?
Lets take a look at the photos of cops at APEC (source: ABC):
Here's a pic of a number of cops
See those little black rectangles on the uniforms? How about a closer look:
Yep, that's a Velcro strip for attaching one's name badge. No need for pin backed badges, no threat of death by pinpricks, just a bit of accountability and transparency. Such as maybe knowing the name of the officer who beats you up.
But even the pinheaded excuse about the dangers of wearing badges looks better than the likely real reason for the practice of officers not wearing identification.
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