Police Badges Redesigned by Officer

Starting Monday, Ventura police officers will sport new badges designed by a member of the force and graced with the visage of the city’s patron saint, Father Junipero Serra.

Chief Richard Thomas presented the new badges at the City Council meeting Monday night.

“They showcase . . . the prominent features of our city,” Thomas told council members, drawing their attention to the tiny bas-relief of Serra on the badge and Ventura’s City Hall behind him.

The two officers who worked on the design and development of the new badge --Gary DeCamp and Bob Velez--sat at his side, new badges glinting on their chests. The badges will cost $76.25 apiece, but local officers will pick up most of the cost.

For the past 23 years, Ventura officers have worn badges of the generic “eagle style”--like most police officers across the nation. But city-specialized badges are “beginning to be a trend,” Velez said.

DeCamp, who also does sketches of suspects for the Police Department, created the new design. The badges will feature a number that corresponds to officers’ ID numbers--unlike the old badges, which were production-line items with a serialized number on them. But the design team says making the change was difficult. A new design was first proposed seven years ago.

“It was opposed by the traditionalists,” Velez said. “It took seven years of lobbying . . . to get this.”

This time around, 113 out of 118 officers signed off in support of the new badge, Thomas told the council.

DeCamp has also designed new lettering for the insignia on the side of patrol cars. Keep your eyes peeled for a Ford police car with distinctive black and silver lettering. There’s only one, but it’s a sign of things to come.