Brendon,

It doesn't matter if the Northfield PD gave him the badge--it's still illegal to represent yourself as a cop if you're not one. Not even if you play one on TV.

He probably did obtain the badge from the department, possibly even at his direction (speculation on my part), but what could they have said to him? "Uh, sorry, Boss, but no can do?" If someone gave him the badge and told them to use it at his leisure, that only makes that person complicit.

There are reasons that it is illegal to walk around wearing a badge if you're not actually a cop, particulary at the site of a HAZMAT incident. The police officers that worked hard to actually earn the priviledge of wearing a badge have been extensively trained to work at a HAZMAT site. Wearing a badge tells everyone in the area that you are trained to not only to work in a situation involving hazardous materials, but that you're not an untrained observer (eg a liability).

Sorry, Brendon, I usually agree with your posts, but not this time.