COLUMBUS, Ind. — Columbus Police Department has come up with its own unique way to observe the 200th anniversary of the city and Bartholomew County this year.
Many active and retired officers have ordered their own bicentennial commemoration badges, said Lt. Matt Harris, department spokesman. These specialty badges were obtained through a company called Badge and Wallet, located northeast of New York City, that specializes in manufacturing a variety of items for law enforcement agencies.
“We looked at a number of designs and wanted something different than what our officers usually wear,” Harris said. “But at the same time, we also wanted badges that assure the public they were addressing a genuine police officer.”
One unique thing is that the specialty badges display the officer’s official number, which Harris says isn’t engraved on conventional badges anymore. It is intended to add an individual touch, so that when officers start wearing their conventional badges at the end of this year, they will still have a lifetime keepsake, Harris said.
Columbus Police Chief Michael Richardson emphasized the officers are purchasing their own commemorative badges, so it is not an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
“It’s not mandatory,” Richardson said. “It’s up to the officer on whether or not to purchase them.”
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for law enforcement officers, it’s hoped that the badges will remind officers of the positives during their time serving the department, Harris said.
Meanwhile, CPD plans to work closely with the Columbus Area Bicentennial Committee when live commemorations are allowed to resume by health officials, Harris said.
One of the first big events for the bicentennial is coming up later this month — an online presentation about the lives of two generals with a permanent place in our community’s history: Joseph Bartholomew and John Tipton.
Bartholomew County Public Library director Jason Hatton will present “It Began With Bartholomew … and Tipton Too” on Saturday, March 27, from 10 to 11 a.m. It will be available in a Zoom video conferencing format that is accessible at columbusarea200.com.
“Most people really don’t understand that these men were really good friends,” Hatton said. “They had a lot of connections with each other.”
Those connections strengthened in November, 1811, when Tipton served under Bartholomew during the Battle of Tippecanoe near present-day Lafayette, Hatton said. During the battle, U.S. forces defeated Shawnee warriors, which ended Chief Tecumseh’s plans for a pan-tribal confederacy to resist white settlers.
Following the battle, the two men kept up their correspondence, Hatton said, and were eventually appointed to a commission that determined the site of Indiana’s new capitol: Indianapolis.
The name of his presentation, sponsored by the Bartholomew County Genealogical Society, echoes the title of former local historian Susanna Jones’ book about Joseph Bartholomew and the history of the county.
