Eastern Shore Information Center
Safety Tips - Police Impersonator
Those who impersonate police officers erode the public’s trust in law enforcement and may endanger unsuspecting people. There are several tips you can remember to protect yourself during a traffic stop while helping your police officers do their jobs.
* Make sure it is a marked police unit. If it is not a marked unit, the emergency lights should be built in and are usually not a temporary light placed on the vehicle.
* Try to stop in a well-lit area or a location where there are a lot of people present.
* Turn on your emergency flashers but don’t turn off your car.
* Lock your door and only open your window a few inches until you are confident that the officer is legitimate.
* Be polite but express your concerns when in doubt. Most legitimate police officers will understand your concerns when explained properly.
* Look for a uniform, official department jacket, and other equipment used by police officers for the performance of their duties.
* If the officer is in plainclothes, look for identifying clothing and equipment. If unsure, explain to the “officer” that you are unsure about the situation and ask them to display official department identification and badge.
* Ask where they work and if you can contact their dispatch center to confirm their identity.
* You may also request a marked patrol unit respond.
* Put on your flashers, drive the speed limit and call 911 from your cell phone. Tell the 911 dispatcher that you are concerned.
* If you do not have a cell phone, drive to an occupied, well-lit area, such as the parking lot of a busy store.
* Do not stop your vehicle or get out of your vehicle until a dispatcher can confirm you are being pulled over by a legitimate police officer.
* If the dispatcher cannot confirm that you are being pulled over by a police officer, stay on the line with the dispatcher. Drive carefully to a safe place, such as a local police department.
Stay safe, and report suspicious activity to police by dialing 911.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
16 comments:
Do not trust just a badge! They can easily be ordered and are not required. You want to see an agency ID card with department name, picture, rank etc.
First sentence: eroding our trust in law enforcement. I think the real cops have done that. Second, ask a cop to show you his ID see how pissed they get at that one. Good luck.
your a damn fool...
If you ask for id from a cop they yell at you are will rip you out of the car...
If you only roll the window down a few inches the cop already suspects you of doing bad bc it isn't all the way down for him or her to stick their heads in all the way and smell and look around... They to will get mad and yell at you or pull you from the car for that...
I have seen it...
they will do that crap just for making their job difficult or for simply not listening to their commands whether it be lawful or unlawful...
To you dumbasses out here, try calling 911 and asking if they are in the area and legit or have them send a uniformed or marked car to you or drive to the police station...
Are you kidding me, by the time that you get to a lit parking lot the officer will have you out of the car, a knee on your throat and a dog biting your leg for failing to pull over and eluding! I've seen COPS on TV!!
Just kidding. Good advise.
So, do they write a citation for driving while on your cell phone, even if it's determined that it's not an actual officer?
11:26
You can call 911 while driving. It is an exception to the law.
So if I drive to a 'safe' location, who pays for my new tires after the stop sticks are thrown in front of my car?
We had this problem in Michigan many years ago. As everyone know, law enforcement agencies sell to the public outdated patrol cars, but the markings have been removed. Well, there was such an epidemic of fake cops robbing a raping with those "unmarked" vehicles, that the state legislature passed a law forbidding any Michigan law enforcement agency from using unmarked cars for traffic enforcement.
Sec. 479a.
(1) A driver of a motor vehicle who is given by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren a visual or audible signal by a police or conservation officer, acting in the lawful performance of his or her duty, directing the driver to bring his or her motor vehicle to a stop shall not willfully fail to obey that direction by increasing the speed of the vehicle, extinguishing the lights of the vehicle, or otherwise attempting to flee or elude the police or conservation officer. This subsection does not apply unless the police or conservation officer giving the signal is in full uniform and the officer's vehicle is identified with stickers as an official police or department of natural resources vehicle.
This is how the law is written, maybe everyone in Maryland needs to call their lawmakers and get with the 21st. century!
If this happens to me (female) I will take my chances with slowly driving to a well lite location and dial 911 and to heck with someone getting upset. I have done this many years ago and there were no complaints. In fact the officer was very nice and thought I had don't a very safe thing. Don't go looking for problems... and do your own part. That is all you can do.
We need to do like Michigan did, no traffic enforcement vehicle will be an unmarked vehicle. Call our lawmakers.
If you are in a dark area, and you slow down, and turn on the emergency flashers and drive directly to a well lit area you will not be run off the road our have your tires shredded by spike strips. They are not going to yank you out of the car, and they are not going to throw you on the ground and put a knee on your throat. If that were true, there would probably be a couple people on this website that have had this happen to them and I don't see posts from them....unless they suspected Joe would out them to local LEOs, which isn't very likely since he's usually not all that pro-cop anyway. As stated by the initial post if it's a detective in an unmarked car, request that they have a uniformed officer in a marked unit to respond. If you are polite and respectful it won't be an issue.
7:42,
It's already the law in Maryland. Look it up. Just never enforced.
9:31 your saying that unmarked cars are not allowed to issue traffic tickets? It is the law? Then driving away from one is perfectly legal?
Let us know how that works for ya
JOE, PLEASE start a place on this blog for citizens to report what they are seeing because most of us do not want to go to the police. People see so much and have nowhere to assemble the information. You have the ability to collect information of value here. If the police want to look at it all the better. But at least parents will know that there is a creep tickling children at the Hebron ballpark so beware. Thank you for considering this.
By far, it is the real kops we need to worry about.
Forget about the fake kops.
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