Related article: Protecting the public from LE impersonators
By Elizabeth Gibson
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Oh. After a man in Franklin County, Mo., pulled an elaborate con as a fake federal anti-drug agent, police in Franklin County, Ohio, reminded residents they should always act on any suspicion that a cop is not a real cop.
“If ever in doubt, you can always call 911,” said Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Richard Weiner.
With police uniform patches for sale on eBay and computer programs that can print fake IDs, there’s not much to stop people from impersonating officers -- other than the threat of getting caught.
Bill Jakob, an unemployed trucker with a criminal record, arrived in Gerald, Mo., in a Ford Crown Victoria claiming to be a federal agent ready to help the Gerald police battle methamphetamine.
He had a badge, a gun, credentials and phony references as well as a police radio that he bought from an official distributor and charged to the government, said Sheriff Gary Toelke of Franklin County, Mo.
The sheriff said the police welcomed the help until the truth came out. Lawsuits started coming in accusing Jakob and officers of mistreating suspects and entering homes without warrants.
How could this happen?
“In Missouri, it’s not really difficult. You can buy badges real easy and make an ID on your computer,” Toelke said. “You can get on eBay and it’s a little more discreet. You’re not on a surveillance camera.”
Several police departments in Ohio sell or trade their uniform shoulder patches as collectors’ items, and Hamilton sells them straight off the city Web site.
Columbus, however, no longer gives out its patches, even if a police officer from another city requests one.
“We do not give out our patch,” Weiner said. “The public, at one time, could request it, but with security as it is across the nation, we no longer do that.”
When an officer retires in Columbus, he or she is not allowed to keep his or her original badge. Instead, the cop is given a commemorative badge with “retired” engraved on it.
Toelke said it’s common to find old badges while executing search warrants. Most of them are family keepsakes, he said, but every now and then, police suspect foul play.
Sometimes a little impersonating isn’t even illegal.
Toelke said one man bought a vehicle and painted it up like a police car with just a slight variation in the wording on the side. The man parked it in front of his car dealership to scare off vandals, which is legal in Missouri.
Fake cops aren’t always so benign. In 1960, Caryl Chessman, the “Red Light Bandit,” was executed via gas chamber in California for robbing and raping women after pulling them over with a fake police light.
The last prominent case of a fake cop in Columbus happened in September. A man called a pizzeria and asked the manager for customers’ personal information while pretending to be investigating stolen credit cards.
Only a couple of cases get reported in Columbus each year, police say, and there’s not much else that could be done other than make possession of police supplies such as badges illegal.
Official badge distributors are on their own to ensure merchandise doesn’t wind up in the wrong hands.
“There is no law, as weird as that is,” said Jim Witmer, CEO of Witmer Associates, which owns OfficerStore.com, a distributor of official badges based in Coatesville, Pa.
“You’d be surprised how many orders get canceled when we say you have to have two forms of ID and proof of your employment with an agency.”
Novelty and collectors shops don’t always take the same precautions.
“Most of the people that buy them are collectors, and we get calls from movie studios, but it’s open to the public,” said David Scott, owner of the Clumsy Crooks online store.
“If you flash any shiny object at anyone, you could probably get away with saying it’s a badge.”
The best solution, Weiner said, is for residents to be wary.
“Here’s the deal: If someone is trying to pull you over in an unmarked unit, find the nearest police station or call the police and ask, ‘Is anyone trying to pull over this car?’”
Copyright 2008 The Columbus Dispatch