Dial 866 and Say "I Do"

Back in July we wrote of getting telephone calls where the caller asks whether this is FedEx.  It is not, but as it turns out our toll-free number is only a few digits off from the FedEx number, so a few careless callers a a month get us when what they want is FedEx.

We wondered whether FedEx gets calls from people seeking badges.

Today a new wrong number has cropped up.  So far today we have received two calls from persons seeking MyWedding.com, the toll-free number for which is identical to ours except for the first three digits.

Ours is 800.  Theirs is 866.

Still, it is a sales opportunity for us.  We have in the past sold beach badges to persons planning beach-themed wedding receptions.  So maybe we need to change our telephone greeting to "Thank you for calling the Badge Company.  May we help plan your wedding?"

Front Page News

It’s right there, on the front page of the November 17 edition of the Star-Ledger, above the fold, where it deserves to be: A story about a Newark cop whose heroic action is not a one-time thing, it is ongoing. Check out the story here.

Come See Us in A.C.

This week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, representatives of the Badge Company of New Jersey will once again be at the annual New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference in the Atlantic City Convention Center, in booth #236.

We will have new products and new catalogs available, along with more badge choices than any other source. Stop by!

It is the 96th NJLM convention, which has been held in the new Atlantic City Convention Center since that facility opened in 1997. Prior to that time the conference was held in the old Convention Hall, shown in the vintage postcard photo above. The new facility is a great one, but the old Convention Hall has been fully refurbished and renamed Boardwalk Hall, and plays host to concerts, sporting events, and much more.

We look forward to seeing many old friends and meeting new ones this week.

Knee Jerks

When the news first broke this past Monday that Newark officer Michael Morgan had been fatally shot outside a strip club in Paterson at 3 AM, there was much speculative nonsense on the online news sites from nameless pinheads. The speculation centered on why he was at a Paterson strip club at 3 AM.

Being outside a Paterson strip club at 3 AM may not be the wisest thing to do, but nobody – and certainly not a police officer – deserves to be fatally shot for doing so.

As it turns out, the reason that Morgan was at the strip club was because he was with a group of fellow officers, celebrating a birthday. Again, perhaps not the wisest time and place for a birthday party but certainly nothing like the inappropriate behavior suggested by anonymous internet trolls.

The shooting arose from an attempted robbery of the officer and a companion. Newark Mayor Cory Booker got it right when he said, "Some two-bit criminals stole his life from his family, from the community and from his country. And for what? Some credit cards. Some chump change."

Good police work has at least one of those two-bit criminals in custody as we write. But we remain annoyed at the clueless knee-jerk comments from the online knee jerks.

Pulled Over

Earlier this year we blogged about championship-winning motorcycle racer James "Bubba" Stewart being arrested for impersonating a police officer. Now his case has been adjudicated.

The arrest arose from an incident in which Stewart, driving a Toyota pickup, used red and blue flashing lights he bought at a flea market to pull over a car not far from his Florida home. Unfortunately for Stewart, the car he tried to pull over was occupied by several real police officers.

The initial charge of impersonating an officer was reduced to a misdemeanor charge of using inappropriate flashing lights on a motor vehicle. This week Stewart pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor and the court in Osceola County fined him $500 and ordered him to complete 75 hours of community service.

Perhaps his community service can include him telling his many young fans how colossally dumb it is to put flashing lights in your car and pretend that you’re a cop.

Racing with the State Police

Yesterday’s announcement by the Governor and others that a Formula One race would be coming to New Jersey in 2013 included a brief mention of an important distinction between New Jersey and virtually all of the other states: In New Jersey, all motor racing falls under the oversight of the State Police.

Where the other states largely ignore the matter, in New Jersey there exists rules and regulations governing the design and operation of races tracks, the safety standards to which competing vehicles must adhere, and more. These rules and regulations are found in Title 13, Law and Public Safety, Chapter 62. Motor Vehicle Race Track Rules, and interested parties can find them online at

http://www.state.nj.us/njsp/info/pdf/racing_regulations.pdf .

While these rules and regulations have been around for over 50 years they are updated regularly. Racing, after all, is quite different today than it was 50 years ago. Happily, one of those differences is that today it is much safer than it was 50 years ago, and it is no exaggeration to say that the New Jersey Division of State Police has played a significant role in those safety improvements.

Today, Troopers visit New Jersey’s racing facilities regularly, just as they have for over 50 years. They work with speedway operators and individual competitors to ensure that the requirements are being understood and met.

Between now and the waving of the green flag over Formula One in New Jersey there will be much interaction between the State Police and the event organizers. On race day in 2013, you can be sure that you will see a State Police presence at the track, concerning themselves not only with the usual large-event subjects such as traffic and crowd control, but also with the safe conduct of the event.

A Most Distinctive Police Car

This black V8-powered roadster was once Scotland Yard’s first line of defense against speeding bikers and criminals with high-powered sedans, and it is scheduled to be auctioned off later this month in England.

This police-issue 1962 Daimler SP250 Dart will cross the block at on October 22. It’s one of 26 Daimler Darts purchased new to serve as high-speed pursuit vehicles for the Metropolitan Police Service of London.

At the time, it was reported in the Daily Mirror that the car "will be a great help in curbing the menace of the ‘ton uppers’ – hooligan motorcyclists who boast of doing a ‘ton’ (100 MPH) in built-up areas. If necessary the Darts could also be used to chase car bandits – who have often escaped in the past because their getaway cars were much more powerful than ordinary police saloons."

Lest you think that the police in the UK have taprooms, a "saloon" in the King’s English is what we in the States term a sedan.

This and the other cars ran Daimler’s 140hp hemi-head 2.5-liter V-8s and were equipped with Borg-Warner three-speed automatic transmissions.

The example being auctioned was decommissioned from police service in 1967, then used as an official course car for 13 years at the Goodwood Revival. Much of the original police equipment remains with the Dart, including the chrome Winkworth police bell that warned of the car’s rapid approach.

If you are interested in buying a distinctive British police pursuit vehicle, visit http://www.Historics.co.uk .

The photos appearing here are courtesy of the auctioneers and the story came to us from our friends at Hemmings Motor News.