Bredesen bans honorary cards and badges

Bredesen directed Tennessee Department of Safety Commissioner Fred Phillips to look for ways to honor people other than giving them official-looking police ID cards and badges, said the governor’s spokeswoman, Lydia Lenker.

The change follows a story in The Tennessean newspaper on Sunday about the IDs, which are essentially identical to those carried by state troopers.

Bredesen and several lawmakers said Monday they were surprised by how many people had received the IDs. The paper reported that 360 people have been issued honorary captainships dating from 2002. Nineteen current or former Bredesen staffers or appointees were among the group.

Melissa McDonald, a spokeswoman for Phillips, said the matter is being studied.

“We’re going to do some research on the best course of action,” she said.

The Tennessee program is more than 30 years old and has operated with no oversight and no controls or background checks. At least two honorees had criminal records and another has been indicted, yet they all still hold their captainships.

It is impossible to determine how many of the badges were issued over the years because no records on the program exist before 2002, according to Phillips’ office. Existing records show the administrations of Bredesen and his predecessor, Don Sundquist, had used the program to give the captainships to their friends and political allies.

Bredesen had said Friday that he was not aware of problems with the honoree program and that he had confidence Phillips was exercising the proper “oversight and controls.” “I had no notion how extensive it was and how far it went back,” Bredesen said.

Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, said he was concerned that giving badges to the public devalues those held by law enforcement officers throughout the state. “They shouldn’t be handing out badges to the general citizenry,” he said.