Neither one of these badges were made by inmates. The TPS Guard badge was made by a man in San Antonio that made all of the Texas Prison System badges, back in the pre TDC era. He also made badges for a lot of law enforcement agencies, back then. I was once told that the bulk of the badges he made went to police departments in California. That’s just hearsay.
The old Texas Department of Corrections badge was made by a company that is still making badges today. Anybody that wants one can purchase an identical badge through Blackingtion. You can purchase a Blackington online. They outfit a lot of police departments, even today. You just need to prove to them what you do for a living. A scan of your ID card or a typed letter on an IOC would suffice.
We used to take up a collection and order one for bosses that were retiring. That was just something the guys on my shift did, for our buddies. It wasn’t something the agency did. We paid for them, as a retirement gift for guys that gave the state 20 years or more.
The last time I was in Huntsville, the prison museum had both of the badges I own, on display. If you want to see one, I would suggest a visit to the museum.
Probably 30 years ago, there was a convict on Ellis that made badges for bosses in the craft shop, I’m not going to say his name, but he was once on death row for murdering a police officer, in a very large North Texas city. He was housed in one of the J wing dorms, on Ellis, after his sentence was commuted to life. I can’t recall if it was J-22, or J-24. He has since been paroled. If he’s still living he’s very old.
I personally, couldn’t line the pockets of a convict that murdered a cop, so I never owned a badge that he made.
I’ve seen wallets that were made in the craft shop, but I’ve never seen one that was issued by the agency. Must have been before my time.
Do they still have leather piddling shops on the units? I’m retired. I haven’t been on a unit in quite some time.
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