Clarion Content

In Chicago this weekend past a fourteen year-old kid walked into the Grand Crossing District police station wearing a police-issued shirt, vest, sweater, pants and skull cap. The savvy kid, who reportedly wants to be a cop when he is old enough, said he was an officer from another district, but was detailed for the day to Grand Crossing. The local cops bought it. He signed out a police radio and ticket book, and was sent on patrol with an actual Grand Crossing officer for five hours. According to the Chicago Tribune, "after his tour was over, a ranking officer became suspicious of the boy. Police said the officer discovered the teen was not a real police officer when he couldn't produce any credentials."

The boy was been charged as a juvenile for impersonating an officer. He had apparently been a "police explorer," part of a community program run through the Police Department's Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) that allows youths to interact with Chicago police officers.

Labels: cop stories, Pop Culture