Posted 15 years ago
rrbadges
(14 items)
Beautiful engraved sterling silver 6 point star hallmarked "Irvine & Jachiens S.F." on rear for a Lieutenant of Police for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. The numbers in the center are made of 14K gold.
Railroad Police are the second oldest organized law enforcement organization 1847 next to the US Marshals 1776. They are state commissioned police officers and receive their authority by state commission from the Governor. Today, as of the 1980's, they also have been granted interstate Federal Authority under US Code 49:28101. Although they are state officers they work for and receive their compensation from the railroad that employed them. During 1917-1920 there were over 10,000 railroad police officers operating in over 900 different railroad companies. Some of these railroads were only 40 miles long and had only one railroad policeman. So finding a badge can be a real challenge! Today there are only 7 Class I railroads, Amtrak and about 40 shoreline railroads that employee railroad police. Like everything else, things change with time and not for he better it seems.