Cerritos Resident Reunited with Stolen Police Badge

A Cerritos resident was reunited with her vintage Los Angeles Police Department "policewoman" badge that Long Beach detectives recovered during a drug search warrant served at a Long Beach home, it was reported today.

Badge No. 85, belonging to Cecilia Dominguez, a resident of Cerritos, was returned to her on Friday, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.

Dominguez retired from the department 16 years ago and now works as an investigator for the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office, cherished her vintage police woman badge. She kept it in a shadow box display with other LAPD memorabilia collected before her retirement from the department in 1997, the newspaper reported.

She and her husband Joe had to temporarily move out of their home due to a fire, and the shadow box went into a hidden cargo compartment in their small sport utility vehicle. But the SUV was stolen about a year ago, the newspaper reported, and was the badge was recently recovered inside a home during a drug bust.

When Dominguez, 69, joined the LAPD in the late 1960s, women wore skirts and their badges designated them as "policewoman," the Press-Telegram reported. LAPD badges evolved in the early 1970s to the unisex "police officer" to reflect the growing ranks of female police officers.

- City News Service