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nitrogen wrote:I blame police officers, that want to catch traffic violators, in plain, unmarked vehicles.
well, not the officers themselves, but agencies that do this.

I got stopped by one of these in a town outside of Phoenix once, and refused to get out or speak to the officer. the officer would not show me his badge, so I called 911. They dispatched a "regular" officer, who verified everything.

Needless to say, the officer that stopped me was irritated, and I got all sorts of tickets. Failure to stop for an officer, etc etc, in addition to the speeding ticket. Went to court and got everything but the speeding ticket dismissed, but it was HARSH. The judge was quite annoyed with teh original officer, but still.

Because of what happened to me, I think patrol in unmarked cars should be illegal; and I can see how someone could easily impersonate an officer. I can see on the web where I can buy the flashing lights to add to my car easily, I can buy realistic badges custom made, and I can buy all sorts of police gear. I could easily outfit myself to look like a police officer and do the same thing. The only thing I CAN'T get easily is a marked police car, unless I steal one.

Many years ago, my girlfriend-at-the-time almost fell for the fake police routine. Luckelly a REAL cop happened upon the scene.

The guy they caught recently here in Houston fit this bill to a "T"...

He got the gear, the car, had it even marked up...

His excuse was he was advertising his "business"...

The background on this guy came back that he had a history of impersonations, and managed to wiggle his way out of convictions until recently...

It was all over the local news for a few days, and then did the traditional nosedive into memory oblivion...Almost never to be seen nor heard from again...

But we see these kinds of things almost everyday...And everyday it whittles away more and more the common sense on both sides of the issue, in that the personification and relationship between legitimate Law Enforcement and the people they serve more volitile and unpredictable...

And everybody suffers more for it...And for what?

Just so that some mullet-head wannabe can get the look and feel of being something they are not??? Where is the public outrage at this worsening breakdown of civility???

Sure we see the comedy in some of the aspects of this issue...

But when the first CHL, or Law Enforcement Officer gets shot and killed because of a misunderstanding...Will all of that apathetic history be so 20/20???

I go out of my way to get to know the guys and gals who patrol my nieghborhood, so I know generally who's who...

It certainly does not warrant any special consideration on their part if I screw up either, I don't ever expect it either...

I dunno, I have a lot of thoughts on this, and its hard to get it all down in a way everyone can see where I stand on this...

I think it is a very serious issue that eats away at a lot of the aspects of why we carry for lawful purposes, and makes it difficult to make the solution easier for everyone involved...

Paladin wrote:Pasadena police urge anyone who is confronted by someone they suspect is impersonating an officer to call 911.

No kidding???

This kind of stuff is happening way too close to the Steve Compound...

I am always bothered by the ability and frequency of ordinary folks being able to buy those "used" vehicles (Crown Vic's) with the spotlights and other blade antenna features on them...

Not everyone I know is as observant as I am, but when I see one that is not marked with agency affiliation markings, I immediately key in on the plates...The goverment and LEO plates are easy to make out...So I let it go...But for some reason I have to wonder why those vehicles are sold with some of the equipment still on them like that...

And for the most part, some of the people driving them sport mullet haircuts for some reason...The whole mentality escapes me for why you need a vehicle that "looks" like a Law Enforcement vehicle...I know most have the engine in them, but they are so ragged out, it takes alot of money to get them to run consistantly...

Then the availability of tactical gear and other accessories some people wear really makes it questionable, even more...

I know this is a free country, and I choose not to go down the wannabe path at all, it doesn't even become a thought for me to consider...

But I know that I am a person that has nothing to hide, nor fear, because I do not break the law...

And have a couple of numbnuts come up to me dressed like that and pull something like what these guys did...

Its getting to a critical point, and I am concerned that I or someone else will have to make a rather brash and decisive decision...

I may have to have some personal conversations with some L.E. friends about this...I know how some of those drills work, and how they are supposed to identify themselves to people they are taking into custody...

But this brazen, and deceptive stuff really has me concerned...And its getting more frequent and closer to home these days...

I do know that agencies have a need to make money on their residual and cast off vehicles...But I really think those vehicles need to be rendered a little more non-LEO than just a paint job, and a licence plate swap...That would really help if there was a consistant standard to that effort...

I'm not sure what you could do to curb the retail (even if it was considered right to do) of LE type uniforms and tactical gear that masks from the untrained eye the effective means of determining if this is a "real" encounter, or one used to mask criminal intent...

I hope we get a lot of discussion on this thread...I feel this is important to get as many inputs as possible on this issue...