14-year-old Patrols Chicago

By Miss Cellania in Crime & Law on Jan 26, 2009 at 12:11 pm

Police are investigating how a 14-year old boy passed himself off as a Chicago police officer for an entire shift. When he showed up for work in uniform, the teen was assigned a patrol in a squad car. He never drove or handled a gun, but the deception was not noticed until his shift was over.

Assistant Superintendent James Jackson said the ruse was discovered only after the boy’s patrol with an actual officer ended Saturday. Officers noticed his uniform lacked a star that is part of the regulation uniform.

Police said they were investigating how the deception went undetected for so long in what they described as a serious security breach.

Police didn’t identify the boy because of his age. He has been charged as a juvenile with impersonating an officer.

Link -via J-Walk Blog

Tags: Chicago, impersonation, police

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mallory
Jan 26th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I heard about this on the radio this morning. I don’t know if it’s more awesome or horrific that it took so long for the police to catch on.
erin
Jan 26th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
That’s both terrifying and really cool. I wouldn’t have had the guts to do something like that at 14… I wonder what prompted it.
Lore
Jan 26th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
What a sad state for the Chicago police to be in that they didn’t notice a 14 year old in their midsts…

One of these things is not like the others….

Wonder what the 14 yr. old looks like and whether he looks super super old for his age?
Gauldar
Jan 26th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Lore,

I think it either means the bulk of the department is oblivious to what goes on around them, or they were afraid of opening their mouth and being accused of discrimination. Maybe both.
Gauldar
Jan 26th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Lore,

I think it either means the bulk of the department is oblivious to what goes on around them, or they were afraid of opening their mouth and being accused of discrimination. Maybe both.
Dan Smith
Jan 26th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
i think it means that his conversational skills matched that of the other officers

“this one time i saw a car explode”
“cool”
“do you like candy?”
“yeah man, twix are like, the best”
“totally”
Gail Pink
Jan 26th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Did they at least pay him for his shift?
Wok
Jan 26th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
@ Dan Smith

Awesome. Just awesome.
Brachinus
Jan 26th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
McLovin!!!
KiM
Jan 26th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
This story reminded me of an old German story – the “Hauptmann von Köpenick”, aka Captain of Koepenick. In 1906, a German masqueraded as a Prussian military officer and fooled the people successfully.

For more informations, read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Voigt
sw
Jan 27th, 2009 at 11:46 am
reminds me of the story of the kid who ‘hijacked’ a nyc subway, but drove it perfectly and made all the stops but one
akhan246
Jan 27th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
This story was hilarious, but wouldn’t you notice your partner being… FOURTEEN?? it was the UNIFORM that gave it away??
maeby funke
Jan 29th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
LOL akhan246 I agree with you! Duh. I say, you go kid!
and I’ll add….sure wouldn’t be the first time a (minor’s) ingenuity and testicular fortitude has out-shined the adults in the arena.
rdgibbard
Jan 29th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
How tough is it to fool Chicago cops? Bloody hell, no wonder the place is overrun with thugs from the mayor’s office down.

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