Fake Police - They are out there

They are not 'fake police'.... they are Citizens on Patrol!

And here in Texas if you do the tin badge routine it's a felony.

Deaf
 
It is a felony in Alabama too (if you perform at least one act, like running blue lights). We have had a few cases recently. Not too long ago a department near here auctioned off one of their patrol cars with working lights attached.

:confused:
 
I hate to say this, but some of "our" sites encourage the phonies by peddling fake badges and "police" credentials with markings "identifying" the holder as having a concealed weapons permit, supporting the Second Amendment, or just being a "citizen". In every jurisdiction, displaying such a "badge", no matter what it says, is impersonating an officer and punishable accordingly.

Fake badges mean nothing but trouble, no matter what the carrier's motive. Anyone who thinks carrying or displaying a phony badge better think again or he might suddenly have plenty of time to reconsider his silliness. Or worse; displaying a fake badge to an armed felon who has decided not to be taken alive might not turn out too well for the phony cop.

Jim
 
They sure are...

Several years ago there was a guy here locally who was dressed up in a cop uniform and had a flashing light in his car. He was pulling over women at night and molesting them. It went on for a month or more. To this day they've never caught up to him. :rolleyes:
 
My youngest brother put a police siren in his hemi cuda in 1975 and would raid the beach parking lot to scare pot smokers. After a week of my brother laughing, the police showed up at my parent's house and had a talk with him. They made him remove the siren and hand it over.
 
We had a volunteer fireman in our little town who had a scanner in his vehicle and would show up at all kinds of situations. He was a real nut! I had some trespassers shooting deer on my property and called the GW as well as the Sheriff Dept. He showed up within a minute, flashed his "badge" and started acting like Clint Eastwood on crack. I heard they finally took away his badge and sent him to the looney bin. :rolleyes:

So yes, they are out there and they are crazy.
 
In some places firemen are issued badges. In some places, certain firemen are empowered to make arrests, normally limited to arson and related offenses. Normally a VFD guy would not. Fire department do draw the normal number of unbalanced folks but they do try to screen them out with background checks. These don't always work or are extensive enough.

Some surprising people are authorized to make arrests depending upon where you live (like the county coroner).
 
I taught my daughters and their friends to be wary. When driving they get blue light at night slow down put on flashers either call 911 or *HP and tell them that they are pulling to a well lit and populated area and if they could verify that the officer is real or not, if not to tell them where they can meet a real officer to stop at
 
Slowing down and flashers are an important part of that. The officer will still be unhappy and suspicious. Some drug abusers use that method to buy time to hide or get rid of their drugs.
 
I totally agree.

However, if the vehicle is a clearly marked police vehicle the odds of it being fake plummet.

Any "unmarked" car pulling over a vehicle late at night/ early morning, not on a major highway/ interstate, not in a known area known for illegal drug trade/ human trafficking I would call suspicious.

Sometimes it is hard to put in to context.
 
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