While we normally don’t cover impostors outside of the public safety sector, we decided to give a heads up to this one. Military impostors are becoming more and more prevalent due to the fact people with nothing to show for in their lives just need something to gloat about and that is as easy as a visit to the local military surplus store. Like public safety impostors they can live a lie and be respected for it until their web of deceit comes apart. In a post by user “gizmo5″ on their forum, it starts out like this:
So, I went to a gun show today with a friend of mine. We were in the mood for some deals, and in general just wanted to go play with some guns. When we get there we immediately notice an individual in ACU’s. Since this is on Aug 7th, a Saturday, this came to us as being odd. So, my friend and I both being active duty NCO’s start to eye ball this guy and notice his badges and awards. Before I list his extensive record let me describe this individual first. 30-40 yr old white male, approx 300 lbs, Blonde high and tight hair cut and a goofy overall appearance. He was wearing glasses on the back of his head, a belt on the outside of his ACU top full of gadgets and a radio with a hand mic wrapped around him self and clipped on his uniform.
METAIRIE, La. (KABC) — A Kentucky man is behind bars for impersonating a police officer during a phony traffic stop, and it’s all caught on his own dash camera.
Original story can be reached here. The video is a must watch for those who still doubt police impersonation exists.
We saw this on a lighting enthusiast forum and had to check ourselves. A group calling themselves the “Quad County REACT” created a YouTube account to presumably to post their videos. Standing with the somewhat typical tradition of whackers, their first video is of a walk around of one of their vehicles that closely resembles an in service police vehicle complete with standard police type lighting. With an account using the club’s name as an account name, we expected their first video to be some type of recruitment video or a “this is what we do” video but maybe that is expecting too much.
Cop car look, if at all, is just a coincidental side effect. Safety and functionality are what I am after from the beginning. My front push bumpers are for deers that jump out at night across highways. Computer on a RAM-MOUNT is there so that I am always available at work as a consultant without being tied to my house, and Internet access helps a lot when you need to find any info, or even updated locations that the RER radio do not have yet. Rear low profile VHF antenna is to extend my Internet access range and to reduce network disconnects. Second rear low profile VHF antenna is for my cell phone for same reason. If I simply want the look, I would not have ordered an AWD to begin with, nor will I get the factory HID. I would have got black steel wheels and flashing lights too. However, I do honestly think that a lot of the police and military technologies do make a lot of sense, and history has proven that a lot of their technologies do make their way into civilian markets over time, and become things we take for granted daily. GPS is one great example, encryption is another, and the list goes on.
Later in the post they follow up with this:
I am in the process of choosing, one red and one blue in front and both red’s in rear, color LED’s for the inside to preserve night vision. Any recommendations for the brand?
Another interesting media video on how easy it is to impersonate. While the information in the video may be dated and/or wrong for your area, it is still good advice. When in doubt, always check with your local area’s law enforcement to get their advice on what to look for.
While upgrading WordPress to v3.0 we found out our old theme was not compatible. Until we can find another suitable theme, we had to stay with the default one for now. Don’t worry, we will be fixing the issue soon.
The question has come up that a lot of the activity that we saw last year has tapered off to nothing. Not to fear, the web site is still here. However my personal life has taken front seat for the time being (nothing to do with this web site) and no one has requested or stepped up to help author the main page. So the updates will remain on hold until I get time and then figure out new content that we haven’t covered. Until then I will post educational stories, ground breaking news articles on whackers/wannabes/impostors, or news I see fit.
For now join our forums at http://forums.policeposers.com to share your stories or pictures or to apply to be a contributor for the PolicePosers.com wordpress blog (details on the forums or email us through the contact page for details). Also become our fan on Facebook.
As always, be safe out there and keep the emails and photos coming!
Great video produced by the Midland, MI Police Department regarding how to spot an impostor. Although this information can vary from city to city, it is a nice effort and a proactive approach to the growing impostor problem we are seeing today.
SEATTLE – A series of recent high-profile crimes all have a common thread. They involve people posing as police officers.
The KING 5 Investigators have learned it may be more than coincidence that there are so many “police posers” on the streets these days and that it is often hard to tell them apart from the good guys.
To passers-by at a Federal Way truck stop earlier this year, it looked like law enforcement was taking down one of its own. A marked K-9 vehicle was pulled over, the man driving it placed in cuffs, and the sidearm from his holster seized. He was stopped by an off-duty King County detective who saw the car driving down I-5 and played a hunch it wasn’t an actual cop.
The rest of the article and video shed a lot of light on the impostor problems the Seattle area is facing which spurred the article. Thank you Chris for the work done on the article and the video.
