Click to watch video

13News has uncovered a third slipup in recent weeks by Va. Beach law enforcement.

Thursday afternoon, a sheriff's deputy working at the jail realized his badge was missing from his uniform.

“Somewhere between him leaving the admin office and going back to work, the badge was lost," explained Capt. Elliott Ortiz.

The badge was lost just minutes after Michael Brown had it engraved, as ordered by the sheriff.

The move came because badges can be purchased on the Internet and the sheriff didn't want someone buying one and impersonating a deputy.

He ordered all the real badges engraved in order to validate them.

The badge is still missing, so somewhere there’s a validated badge.

Officials have advice for anyone approached by someone claiming to be a deputy.

“We encourage everyone to look for not only a badge but an id card," stressed Capt. Ortiz.

Previous 13News Investigations revealed that police captain Marie Chiarizia left her loaded gun in a bathroom at the training center and that a police loaded criminals in the back of a squad car that had a gun hidden under the seat.

In light of the missing gun case, the police chief ordered all officers to review safety policies.

The Va. Beach sheriff told 13News he plans to issue a similar warning to his deputies.