Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
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Also this issue: Hitting the Hit Men One Hall of a Dilemma The Bell Curve |
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July 5-11, 2002
city beat
Copping an Identity
 Photo By: Michael T. Regan |
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In June 1996, after leaving a bar in Wayne, Aimee Willard, a lacrosse player and senior at George Mason University, was stopped on the Blue Route late at night by an unmarked car with a flashing red light. A man identifying himself as a police officer asked for her license and registration and then lured her out of her car. The next day Willard’s battered and broken body was found dumped in a vacant lot in North Philadelphia.
Last February, professional boxer Andrew Golota -- who's most notable for the two rounds of butt-kicking he took from Mike Tyson before literally running away from his opponent in the ring --was stopped by an Illinois state trooper. Golota was charged with impersonating a police officer after he tried to avoid a ticket by flashing a badge and claiming to be a New Jersey cop.
Just last month, a man wearing the familiar uniform of a Brink's armored truck guard walked into the post office on North Broad Street in the Logan section at 4:30 p.m. and calmly asked for the day's receipts. Postal workers cheerfully turned over several thousand dollars without question. Minutes later, the real Brink's guard showed up, to the surprise of the postal employees who suddenly realized they'd been hoodwinked.
In light of the heightened vigilance by government and security personnel since Sept. 11, how easy is it to pretend to be a police officer or other security official? The answer is: still way too easy. In fact, since then, police have been hailed as America's everyday heroes, making a phony officer even more dangerous, since most folks won't question or confront a uniformed officer, even if they smell something fishy. New York authorities were put on alert last month when two suspicious-looking men tried to buy a used ambulance with cash, then ran away when the shop owner asked for identification. The speculation, of course, is that terrorists could use emergency vehicles as potential weapons of mass destruction since few people would question the legitimacy of a speeding police car, fire engine or ambulance.
Police uniforms, patches, badges and accessories are readily available on the Internet and through collectors' clubs. With a computer, a credit card and a little patience, just about anyone can outfit themselves to look like an official police officer, security guard, park ranger or even a SWAT team or bomb squad member. You can also buy the decals and flashing lights to outfit your car or ambulance to look like a genuine emergency vehicle.
And if that idea is particularly disturbing considering the devastation a few phony cops could create under the right circumstances, think of how the real cops must feel.
"You can buy a real New York police uniform anywhere on 42nd Street in New York," said former Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney in an interview last week. "It's almost an over-the-counter business. Not fake uniforms, real ones. It's a real issue."
So much of an issue that the NYPD Internal Affairs has a unit specifically dedicated to investigating and collaring police impersonators.
"In New York it's a frequent occurrence," Timoney said. "The police department had to copyright the patch design." That copyright is an attempt to control who gets official police patches and under what circumstances, but given the ready availability of official NYPD gear, that horse may be out of the barn. The Philadelphia Police Department doesn't have a special unit to combat police impersonations, or even a single detective who tracks the crime of impersonating a public official. According to the department's Public Affairs Inspector Bill Colarulo, it just doesn't happen that often here.
"Police impersonations are very rare in Philadelphia," Colarulo said. "So fortunately we don't really need officers working on it full-time, but that doesn't mean we don't take the crime of police impersonation very, very seriously. We're circumspect in our patrols, and on those rare occasions when it happens, we crush the perpetrators. We bring the full weight of the law down on them fast and hard. We're not just lucky here, we plain don't tolerate it."
According to Karen Simmons, senior legal counsel to the Philadelphia Police Department, impersonating a public servant is a violation of Crimes Code section 4912 and a second-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum sentence of two years. Simmons says she has no idea when the code was last used to try someone for impersonating an officer.
Simply type "police uniforms" into your favorite Internet search engine, and you'll be given the websites of dozens of companies like Book 'Em, Police Find, I.Buss and Kranson Clothes that provide uniforms to law enforcement agencies, movie and TV production companies and the like. City Paper ordered a Philadelphia Police uniform from Kranson in Wilkes-Barre for about $200, which arrived by UPS two days later. Badges, official arm patches, nightsticks and accessories are also available by mouse click. Timoney and Colarulo are right about the NYPD uniforms being the hot sellers, though. While Philadelphia Police uniforms and especially Philadelphia badges are harder to find, NYPD and LAPD uniforms and badges can be obtained with alarming ease. They're cheaper, too.
Colarulo said he's aware of the frequency of police impersonations in New York, where he said that criminals often will dress up in police uniforms and shake down drug dealers and petty criminals for cash and contraband, knowing that the dealers probably won't call the real police even if they figure out they've been had. It's a dangerous but potentially profitable game, but not usually dangerous to law-abiding citizens. Most people probably aren't too concerned about whether a drug dealer gets robbed of cash and drugs. What people are concerned about is the potential for terrorists using badges and uniforms to gain access to secure areas or lure folks into a false sense of security while they execute a murderous plot against innocent civilians.
"Most cops can spot a phony right away but, of course, it's much more difficult for non-law enforcement people. There are insignia and little things that give away a bogus uniform to the trained eye," Colarulo said.
But what about to the untrained eye? How do you know if that's a real cop, or security guard or park ranger? Colarulo said it only costs a little common sense to be certain.
"If you're not sure, ask for an ID card, which is issued to all officers, or ask to speak to the officer's supervisor. If he's legit, most officers are aware of people's apprehensions and will gladly cooperate," said Colarulo. "If there's still any doubt in your mind, you can call 911."
According to Colarulo, an officer who stops you on the highway or shows up at your door is radioed in to police dispatch. If you call 911, the dispatcher will have the officer's name and badge number and be able to tell you whether he or she is a real officer on a legitimate assignment. The same is true of traffic stops. When an officer stops a car, the officer radios in the car description and tag number, so the dispatcher will be able to tell you that yes, you were pulled over by a real cop, and yes, you're going to get a ticket.
While double-checking a cop's ID is often prudent, Colarulo cautions against using it arbitrarily just to antagonize the officer.
"We don't want people to assume all cops are fake and demand several forms of ID just to provoke the officer," he said. "If a marked patrol car stops you, and a uniformed officer gets out of that car, he's probably a real cop."
