RE: PC: Re: Penn Central Police patch

[Jereav@xxxxxxx]

The subject of railroad police is facinating in it's own right. (Just another example of the great diversity in the railroad hobby.)
While it's true that in PC's time individual states commissioned railroad police, today railroad police officers are called special agents and are commissioned by the Federal government. The railroads have been lobbying the Feds for years for this, and Washington finally relented in the early 1990's (I think that's the right time frame). This arrangement does make some sense, because a railroad police officer commissioned in Maryland, say, couldn't arrest a suspect in Pennsylvania. Also a federal commission allows greater flexibility in assigning personnel, etc.
Just two more brief comments. One, deputy chief is indeed a legitimate police rank, but I'm not certain it applies to PC's railroad police, and two, there is alot of junk on Ebay. Let the buyer beware, I suppose.

Jim Reaves