EDIT: No idea why the title has formatted like that.

 

I found this to be pretty startling, how does a 14 year old, or any age for that matter, complete an entire shift with a real officer without anyone realizing he's not actually sworn into the force?

 

 

Chicago police arrested a 14-year-old boy for allegedly impersonating one of their own Saturday.

The boy, who has been charged as a juvenile for impersonating an officer, walked into the Grand Crossing District station, 7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave., dressed in a Chicago police uniform, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. The boy, who reported for duty about 1:30 p.m., partnered with another police officer for about five hours.

The boy identified himself as an officer from another district but was detailed for the day to Grand Crossing and also was savvy enough to sign out a police radio and a ticket book, according to a source. The source also said the boy went on traffic stops with the officer he went on the street with.

 

Bond said the boy "did not write tickets" and said there was "no information to indicate that he [was] ever behind the wheel."

At an afternoon news conference, police said the boy had no interaction with the public.

After his tour was over, a ranking officer became suspicious of the boy. Police said the officer discovered the teen was not a real police officer when he couldn't produce any credentials. The boy was wearing police-issued pants, shirt, vest, sweater and skull cap, police said.

 

He was missing his police star, but that was not discovered until after he returned from traffic patrol. Police said the 14-year-old's partner on the traffic assignment did not recognize the boy was underage.

The source said the boy had an empty holster and a newspaper in place of a ballistic vest in his vest carrier.

Police described the boy as a former "police explorer," which means he was part of a community program run through the Police Department's Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) that allows youths to interact with Chicago police officers. He was part of the explorer program in 2008 in the Englewood District.

 

"The boy was not armed, and the matter is under investigation with Internal Affairs," Bond said.

Bond also said that how the boy acquired the police uniform was under investigation. Police officers need to present identification while acquiring their uniforms, police said.

 

The boy "has identified an egregious breach in security," Deputy Supt. of Patrol Dan Dugan said.

The boy, whom authorities did not identify since he's a juvenile, is scheduled to appear in Juvenile Court at 10 a.m. Monday.

 

Source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-01-26/news/0901250331_1_police-officers-chicago-police-boy

He fought the law and the, law won!

wow how does one do that and not get noticed for 5 HOURS!!!!?????

Edited November 20, 201312 yr by gamerdanger99

Only 14 man!! The law wins "that's Good I think" and how does any one can do that

I find this really really hard to believe but it is. I was almost in tears I was laughing so hard... 

 

I want to know how his "partner" never noticed anything.

Former police explorer.... I hate this kid. Giving the rest of us a bad name.

Something like this happened in My station not to long ago Some guy posed as a Police officer for (7 Months). They didn't suspect him of anything because he stayed in the station and acted like he knew what he was doing.

How does a 14 year old get away with portraying the role of a police officer for five hours?!?!? He must be big, but he should just be patient and join the Chicago Police Department when he turns 18, but this will affect his reputation.

Sad that this is more & more frequent, examples of why anything that we find cool that the police do indeed use, we cannot have, because it is abused..

How does a 14 year old get away with portraying the role of a police officer for five hours?!?!? He must be big, but he should just be patient and join the Chicago Police Department when he turns 18, but this will affect his reputation.

 

Yea Must be very big and very Smart, People thing that he looks order then he does.

 

This is Old, This was back in January 26, 2009 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-01-26/news/0901250331_1_police-officers-chicago-police-boy

Yea Must be very big and very Smart, People thing that he looks order then he does.

 

This is Old, This was back in January 26, 2009 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-01-26/news/0901250331_1_police-officers-chicago-police-boy

 

My apologies, Saw it linked on Reddit and didn't bother to check the date.

 

Although the issue is still pretty hilarious

EDIT: No idea why the title has formatted like that.

 

If you're talking about the failure to put capitals, either the Development Team or IPB has set titles to exclude caps.

Edited November 20, 201312 yr by Michael V.

Yea Must be very big and very Smart, People thing that he looks order then he does.

 

This is Old, This was back in January 26, 2009 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-01-26/news/0901250331_1_police-officers-chicago-police-boy

 

Hahaha, So he is 18 right now :)

If you move purposefully, act like you're supposed to be doing whatever you're doing, and act like you don't expect to get stopped, you can do pretty much anything. Someone walking confidently with a clipboard, a hi-vis vest, and a generic ID card can go anywhere.

Hahaha, So he is 18 right now :)

 

Yes very much So,  And I wonder If he is still in Prison And what happen to the other officers that did not know that he was 14 years old, They must have lost there job

Yes very much So,  And I wonder If he is still in Prison And what happen to the other officers that did not know that he was 14 years old, They must have lost there job

I dont think they lost their jobs, that would be too extreme, but it would be pretty embarrassing :)

Yeah, now apparently the first letter of every word is capitalized in a title and everything else made lower case. I'm guessing it's to prevent titles from being "HELLLPPP MEEEEEE!!!!!!" Now it can only be "Helllppp Meeeeee!!!!!!"

 

Anyway, at least this incident let them find a security issue within the department and hopefully they fixed that. Really, anyone smart enough could have done this, then used it to their advantage to do bad. At least the kid only did what was basically a ride-along.

If you move purposefully, act like you're supposed to be doing whatever you're doing, and act like you don't expect to get stopped, you can do pretty much anything. Someone walking confidently with a clipboard, a hi-vis vest, and a generic ID card can go anywhere.

Indeed, shows how little people pay attention to the details. (GTA V Harbor Heist anyone?). 

 

Hadn't seen this before, Harper, so thanks for sharing it. Pretty alarming. 

Edited November 20, 201312 yr by ineseri

Well, At lest that - this will not happen again, The police learn there learners.   

If I'm honest, I find this story both hilarious and rather scary at the same time. Imagine what havoc could be caused by a real criminal who wants to pose as a police officer.