Retired postal worker John Reichardt was looking for a way to fill his free time when he joined the Orange County Sheriff's Department's volunteer program three years ago.
The 68-year-old Santa Ana resident now works about 30 hours a week at John Wayne Airport, searching for unattended luggage, inspecting trucks carrying shipments into the airport and helping travelers negotiate their way through busy terminals.
Like all of the 429 Professional Services Responder volunteers, Reichardt does this free of charge. That's why he was hurt when Sheriff Sandra Hutchens announced last month that she was recalling badges issued to the volunteers.
"It felt like a punch to the stomach," he said.
Hutchens said she took that step because of concern that the program had been tainted by publicity that former Sheriff Michael S. Carona once filled its ranks with political supporters and business associates. The department was also concerned by a published opinion last year from the state attorney general that said it was illegal to issue badges to the public that could be mistaken for peace officer badges.
The Professional Services Responder Program has long been considered a haven for the county's rich and powerful. Orange County Republican Party operators Michael Schroeder and Adam Probolsky are members. Until he pleaded guilty in a stock manipulation case, so was Henry Samueli, the billionaire co-founder of Broadcom and owner of the Anaheim Ducks.
Hutchens said she was concerned by reports that a former Carona assistant told federal agents that Carona gave reserve deputy badges to 86 people in exchange for donations of $1,000 to his first campaign in 1998.
Some reserve deputies have been accused of flashing their badges to gain favor with law enforcement or other officials.
Carona was charged last fall under a broad corruption indictment that accused him of exchanging the power of his office for tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts.
In a recent letter to the volunteers, Hutchens said: "It is essential for us to unburden ourselves from the perceptions that have shadowed your outstanding work." The department is sending self-addressed envelopes to each of the Professional Services Responder volunteers so they could mail in their badges. As of Thursday, the department had received 87 badges.
Hutchens said she intended to issue alternative forms of identification -- specifics are still undecided -- and would rename the volunteer program.
