Well guys I'm not sure I am a volunteer firefighter my badge might be a little bigger but my point is look closely at the hinge side of the clasp on the back it looks a little too well built to be a toy any ideas
Looks like a "years of sevice pin" to me. Almost looks like a 5 in the little oval at the bottom which would denote 5 years of service as a deputy sheriff. Course my eyes could be playing tricks on me also. WOLF
Looking at the "clip" part looks like it could be real. Similar to the clip on my badge. And yes, like Dusty says, it appears too small ... standard badge is approximately 3" tall. But it could be pretty old and they could have possibly been smaller back then - not certain. Wolf may have hit it with the YOS pin too. Interesting find though, especially the insignia in the crest.
Looks pretty solid, doesn't look like a toy. I have never seen a kids/novelty badge that didn't say something on it to indicate it was not a real badge. "Junior Police" "Volunteer" etc...
By size it could be a hat badge.
Here is an example of an older metal kids badge I found. It says Junior Police.