BADGE OF DISHONOR

"He was a legitimate trucker, as far as I knew," responded Dolton Mayor
William Shaw when questioned about a drug dealer's court testimony that he
bought a badge from the mayor for more than $30,000. That drug dealer was
one of 18 "deputy marshals," some of them political contributors to Shaw,
authorized to carry guns in Dolton. They do no law enforcement work.
Haven't Shaw and other Dolton officials heard about the scandal in
neighboring Dixmoor where 80 people had park district police badges, even
though the park district operated only one small tot lot? Or about the
Maywood Park District where more than 100 people had park district police
badges amid allegations that badges were being sold? Or about the
widespread abuse of Cook County Sheriff's badges--1,200 badges were found
to be invalid during a crackdown in 1992? Each time, badge abuse led to an
FBI investigation. We hope the pattern continues.