HADLEY - A former Hadley town official said he was only trying to show he lives in town when he flashed an expired police commissioner's badge after being pulled over for speeding on Route 9 this month.

But that didn't matter to police when they issued former selectman David Moskin a speeding ticket and seized his gold badge, which they say he waved "vigorously" out the driver's-side window of his vehicle as a patrol officer sat in his cruiser behind him.

Moskin, who served on the board from 2001 to 2004, told the Gazette Friday that he did not wave the badge with vigor. "I just held it out the window," he said.

"I was just trying to show I'm a local guy," Moskin said. "I guess it was a mistake to have shown him the badge."

The incident has prompted a town review of the many police commissioner badges held by former and current board members, according to Town Administrator David G. Nixon.

Some board members interviewed said they were issued the badges by Police Chief Dennis J. Hukowicz in recent years. They also were hard-pressed to explain the purpose of the badges.

"Probably no purpose," said selectmen Chairwoman Joyce A. Chunglo, who received her badge from Hukowicz after being elected to the board seven years ago. "It's just a gesture on the chief's part that we are the police commissioners."

Nixon said he is not aware of the number of expired badges in the possession of former board members or whether others are floating around town. He said he did once see one held by the late Kate Nugent, a former selectman.

"That's one of the things I'm tracking down," Nixon said. "I'm going to be asking the chief of police if he's been ordering any badges.

"I certainly have not ordered any in the four and a half years I've been here," he said.

Under their statutory authority, board members serve as the town's police and water commissioners. In that capacity, they hire, fire and supervise the police chief and negotiate contracts with the police force. They have no police powers.

Nixon said he was not aware of the Jan. 2 incident involving Moskin until the Gazette filed a records request for the police report detailing the police department's confiscation of the badge.

"I read that with concern and regret," Nixon said of the police report. He said he has sent a letter to Moskin reminding him of the state's conflict-of-interest law and to take the newly required online state ethics test, because he currently serves on a few town committees.

Police allege Moskin tried to use the badge to get out of a speeding ticket, a claim Moskin denies.

"I've never flashed the badge ever in any official capacity," Moskin said. "I was trying to show #Hey, I'm local and I used to work with you guys.'"

"I have a lot of support for the police," he added. "I think they have really hard jobs and I support them very much."

Traffic stop

Moskin was stopped for traveling 44 mph in a 30-mph zone on East Street near Route 9, according to Patrol Officer Mark C. Shlosser. Shlosser said that as he got out of his cruiser, Moskin started leaving his vehicle. Shlosser told him to get back inside and remain there.

While back in his cruiser, Shlosser reported he then observed Moskin "waving a gold badge vigorously" from his driver's side window. He approached Moskin again and asked him what he was trying to show him.

Shlosser's report states Moskin then produced a black wallet containing a gold Hadley police commissioner's badge with a yellow card issued from the Board of Selectmen that expired in April 2004.

Patrol Officer David Bertera was then called in to assist with the stop and informed Moskin that it was against the law to possess or try to use the police commissioner badge to get out of a speeding ticket, according to Shlosser's report.

The police report states that Moskin told police he was given permission by another former board member to use the badge if he was ever stopped by police, a statement Moskin denies.

"That is not true," he said.

Nixon said he had no knowledge of board members using or attempting to use the badges for that purpose.

"If I ever heard a selectman say that, I would disabuse him of that notion," he said. "All of this remains in the realm of allegation at this point."

Police at the scene seized the badge and advised Moskin that charges could be brought against him for the possession and use of the badge, which are identified as misdemeanors on the police report. The report notes that the badge was turned over to Hukowicz.

Purpose unlcear

Nixon said he couldn't think of any substantive purpose for the police commissioner badges other than a board member using it on a rare occasion for identification as a police commissioner.

"I think the badges are there for an emblem of office rather than a real function," he said.

Former selectman and UMass Police Chief Barbara R. O'Connor said the purpose of the badges was never explained to her, nor did she seek to obtain one.

"I never took one," said O'Connor, who is now chief of police at the University of Illinois. "There was a conversation with me about it, and I wasn't interested in it."

Interviews with town officials suggest there is no formal policy for returning the police commissioner badges once selectmen leave office.

"I was told nothing," Moskin said, noting he considered his expired badge, "more like a novelty."

Nevertheless, Chunglo, the board chairwoman, said the badges should be turned in when board members leave office and are no longer serving as police commissioners.

"I would say it would be remiss to use a badge you really don't have the authority to use," she said.

Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.