Was Herschel Walker a police officer? Fact-checking claims about ex-NFL star handing out fake police badges

Herschel Walker had an interesting campaign leading up to Election Day on November 8. He's currently losing the race, but it's close enough that there may be a special election between him and incumbent Raphael Warnock.

Part of his campaign involved police badges, one for the Senate candidate himself and many for potential voters that he handed them out to. However, it has raised questions about whether or not he ever worked in law enforcement and why Herschel Walker police badges were being given out.

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Was Herschel Walker a police officer?

Walker brandished a police badge during a debate with Warnock. This prompted many to question whether the running back-turned-politician had ever been a member of any law enforcement agency.

As of now, he has not worked as an official member of law enforcement. However, he was given an honorary badge by law enforcement, specifically Johnson County Sheriff Greg Rowland. According to NPR, the sheriff doesn't have any issues with the former NFL player brandishing the badge:

"If Herschel's badge is a prop, then I guess this badge I wear every day to protect the citizens, this is a prop also. But these are real badges, and I gave this to my friend for all he's done for this country and this county."

While that doesn't seem to be an issue, the badge is not legitimate, as he is not a member of any law enforcement agency.

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Why was Herschel Walker handing out police badges?

The Senate hopeful recently handed out police badges to potential voters because he wanted to highlight his support for law enforcement. This has become a central issue for many Republican voters recently.

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Despite them being fake, his campaign manager believed the stunt could do no harm to his campaign, according to NPR:

"If Sen. Warnock wants to highlight this, then bring it on. It just gives us a chance to talk about Herschel's support of law enforcement and law enforcement's support for him. It's a great issue for us."

The former NFL running back has campaigned as a hardcore conservative. This has him positioned as anti-abortion and staunchly pro-law enforcement. The badges merely serve to highlight the issue and should not be taken to mean anything more than that.