Police Badges, etc.

We bought a collection of badges (police, sheriff, fire department and others) a few weeks ago and we've been going through them to catalog and price them.  I am not an expert in badges but have been learning a lot.  In most cases a badge is just a badge, but one of the badges intrigued me more than the others.  It is a 1920s Omaha Police badge with a civilian designation.  My question: under what circumstances would a civilian get an official police badge?

At first I thought the Omaha Police force was beefing up its numbers by using civilians after the 1919 race riots.  But now I think the use of civilians was something different.  Omaha organized a citizen constabulary in 1920 called “Volunteer Civilian Officers” who were primarily used for enforcing traffic regulations and providing educational programs.  I think the badges were issued to them, but I could easily be wrong.

1922 Omaha Civilian Traffic Police

Closer to home is the St. Paul Union Depot, so in honor of its recent re-opening I thought I would add this photo of an attendant’s hat badge.

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