Ill. mayor accuses police department of negligence after teen impersonates cop

January 28, 2009 03:58 AM

By Fran Spielman, Frank Main and Annie Sweeney
Chicago Sun-Times

CHICAGO — It looks like heads will roll in the mysterious case of that 14-year-old alleged police impersonator who has provided fresh comic fodder for late-night talk show hosts.

Mayor Daley demanded accountability Tuesday -- and Police Supt. Jody Weis vowed to deliver it -- from police supervisors accused of negligence that paved the way for the impersonator’s great adventure.

“What a sad comment. You pay a sergeant x-amount of money. You pay the field lieutenant x-amount of money. These are managers for the Police Department in that district. They have the responsibility to answer all the questions concerning how this person could do this. He’s only 14 years old,” the mayor said of the suspect.

The boy’s mother identified him as eighth-grader Vincent Richardson, who she said pulled the stunt because he was bored.

One source said he was told the teenager “coded a couple of assignments,” meaning he used police codes to let a dispatcher know how he and his “partner” were handling particular calls. The source said he also was told the teen was allowed to drive the squad car.

“Where is the desk sergeant, the field lieutenant, the captain on duty? That will be required for Jody Weis and others to thoroughly investigate,” the mayor fumed.

Weis was out of town attending a conference of big city police chiefs. But he released a statement saying he “shares the mayor’s concerns” about the “embarrassing” security breach.

“I’m also concerned about the breakdown in department directives concerning watch assignments, roll calls and inspection of personnel in uniform. Watch commanders are personally responsible to ensure that the uniform equipment and appearance of personnel conform to the standards established in the department directive,” Weis said.

In the wake of the hoax, the department has called and sent a letter to all uniform vendors reminding them they cannot sell uniforms or equipment to anyone who does not show a star and police identification.

Supervisors have also been reminding about roll call procedures and how to keep better track of their officers.

Also, all security cameras --both private and city -- and emergency transmission tapes are being reviewed to track the teen accused of impersonating the officer.

A former member of the “police explorer” youth program who was infatuated with police work, Richardson is accused of getting dressed in a regulation police uniform on Saturday, walking into the Grand Crossing station and announcing that he was a Calumet officer assigned to traffic patrol there.

He signed out a police radio and joined another officer in a patrol car for five hours, police and Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Rutkowski said Monday.