Placer County sheriff’s group temporarily banned from eBay over selling department coin

A group of Placer County sheriff’s deputies were banned briefly from selling items on the popular auction website eBay last week after their account was flagged as a “risk to the community,” the sheriff said in a social media post.

The deputies are members of the department’s Honor Guard, which is a group of officers from across the department tasked with attending law enforcement funerals, award ceremonies and community events, as well as organizing fundraisers to pay for the costs of travel and other expenses, Sheriff Devon Bell said in a Facebook post.

Recently, the honor guard created a new challenge coin, which is a collector coin that bears the department’s logo and is often left with fallen officers to commemorate them. But when a sergeant using his department email created a eBay account to sell the coin as part of a fundraiser, his account was banned, leading him to believe it was the coins that caused the controversy.

“Your eBay account has been permanently suspended because we noticed activity that we believe is a risk to our community,” the email said, according to Sgt. Richard Gray in a social media post. “...The safety of our community is a top priority for us, so our decision to permanently suspend your account is final and can’t be appealed.”

According to a photo in his post, the challenge coin is a large gold and black coin, bearing the department’s logo in green along with the inscription “Honor the fallen. Purity of purpose. Strength of conviction.”

Bell called eBay’s move “totally unacceptable.”

“First and foremost, this posting did not violate any eBay seller rules I could find,” Gray said. “But what is more troubling to me, given today’s political climate, is how this could be seen in any way, shape, or form, as being a risk to our community for any other reason than it is law enforcement related.”

Bell said in his post that Gray tried to explain the situation, but was unable to have his account reinstated.

However, in an email to The Sacramento Bee on Monday afternoon, an eBay spokesperson said the account had been reinstated and was only flagged after it appeared to be fraudulent, meaning multiple accounts were associated with a similar IP address.

The coins, the spokesperson said, are permitted under eBay’s existing policies.