List-member in local news - Patch Collector! :-)

[Guest guest]

I'm tooting Dyson's horn for him; he's just been mentioned in the

local news 'round abouts his area. Here's the link to the online article:

http://www.islandpacket.com/localnews/story/0,1946,174369,00.html

But for the 'Net-challenged amongst the subscribers, here's the whole article:

From the Island Packet (online) news:

Collectors snatch up law

enforcement patches

BY PETE NARDI:Packet staff writer

(Published July 3, 2000)

He'll trade you one Rhode Island State

Police Tactical Team for a Jasper County

Detention Center, or two.

Sgt. Jeff Light of the Beaufort County

Sheriff's Office has been trading and

collecting law enforcement shoulder

patches for about five years. He has about

1,600 patches from agencies all over the

nation, and 16 from foreign countries.

Light said his collection isn't the largest

around. Some enthusiasts in the state have

as many as 7,000 patches.

Light, like fellow trader Dyson of the

S.C. Highway Patrol, uses the Internet to

upgrade his collection. He keeps his Web

site updated with lists of patches he has to

trade and those he's still looking for. Light

is hunting sheriff's office patches from

Georgia, along with some that might be

harder to find, such as the Vermont State

Police Dive Team, and a U.S. Customs

K-9 officer's patch.

" I just stick to law enforcement patches, "

Light explained. " If I got into collecting

paramedic and fire department patches,

that would just get too big to handle. "

Dyson agrees. It took him over a year to

complete his collection of patches from

every state police force in the United

States. Now he's about 15 patches away

from having every Sheriff's Office in South Carolina.

A telecommunications operator for the Highway Patrol, Dyson

likes to seek out communications officer patches.

" But those are more difficult to come by, " he said.

Some rare patches -- those from special units within police

departments -- can sell for as much as $60 on auction

Web sites,

Light said. Although he and Dyson rarely pay for

patches, they say

the hobby can get expensive because of the postage

involved in

mailing patches to other traders and sending out

requests for

patches to various law enforcement agencies.

Obtaining patches from small-town police departments can

be just

as tough as finding rare patches, Dyson said.

" A lot of departments just don't have the budgets that

allow them to

hand out their patches, " he said, explaining a typical

patch costs a

department about $3. " I've been lucky a few times and caught

them just as they were changing uniform styles or patch

designs.

Then they have plenty to give you. "

Individuals interested in trading with Light or Dyson

can reach

them at www.hargray.com/~lightj or www.hargray.com/~jdyson.

Dyson, who has about 300 patches in his collection, said the

Internet and mail aren't the only ways to procure a patch.

" When I'm traveling, I often stop in the local police

department and

see if I can get one, " he said. " Also, troopers who

don't collect

themselves keep me in mind when they run into other

officers.

They'll pick up a patch and pass it along to me. "

Staff writer Pete Nardi can be reached at 706-8134 or

pnardi@....

---------------<end of article>------------

Happy to be here, proud to serve.

Olmstead

Communications Supervisor

~on the Central California coastline~

" Not presumed to be an official statement of my employing agency. "

Home E-mail: mailto:gryeyes@...

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