Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Color Me Amused

Holy moly! I don’t know if this has made national news or if it’s just here in Chicago, but have you guys heard about the fourteen year old who was arrested for impersonating a cop?

If you don’t want to click on the article, the gist of it is that this fourteen year old boy walked into a Chicago precinct, dressed as a cop. He knew enough about police lingo to tell them that he’s from another precinct and was assigned to their's for the day. He was issued, get this, a locker, a radio, and a partner and sent out on patrol!!!! The kid is five foot, three inches tall!

Not only did he go on multiple calls with his partner, he drove the squad car for a while and there are some reports that he actually issued a ticket. (I wish I was the one who got that ticket – there’s no way a judge could make that one stick!) They didn’t catch him until five hours later, when he and his partner came back to the station and he couldn't produce id or verification.

Now, all of the articles and police interviews center on the same thing – how embarrassing this is for the precinct and Chicago PD in general. Personally, I have another take – what a cool friggin’ kid! I mean, seriously, do you know of a fourteen year old that doesn’t get nervous talking to the police? Even when they didn’t do anything wrong? This one walked right into a precinct and pulled the mother of all grammar school scams – on the police! It’s genius! Evil genius, but still.

From all of the articles I’ve read, this is a kid who idolized the police and was a member of their explorer program for kids. He’s also a kid with a rough home life who’s been in trouble before. I have to tell you, I think they’re going about it all wrong. Think about it – this is make or break time for this kid and he really wants to be a cop. Wouldn’t now be a good time to keep him on that path? I’d rather him want to enforce the law than break it – I’m pretty sure they’d have a hard time catching him if he went into crime.

This happened on Saturday and he’s currently being held in Juvenile on charges of impersonating an officer. I hope the judge is lenient... though this is the third time he’s been charged with that offense.

10 comments:

Captain Hook said...

Love it!!

You're right, the kid is awesome and should be encouraged in his dream.

Spy Scribbler said...

They need to channel that, not punish it. Well, maybe he is crazy, but I don't know. I hope if he's not, they channel that!

Mary Witzl said...

I was glad to read that you too were impressed, because my first thought was that this kid really has guts. I can't even get my 14-year-old to go to the store on her own. There ought to be a way they can get this kid on the right path; he clearly wants to work.

Come to think of it, my eldest would LOVE to give someone a ticket. Me, probably.

Anonymous said...

I want to adopt that kid. That is great. I hope the judge gets the same feeling.

Merry Monteleone said...

Hi Captain!

I followed your link over to your blog last week - I think it was from Editorial Anon's... I'll be stopping back over to comment soon.

I think so too, the kid is a ward of the state, so we can guess he's had a rough life already - if he still wants to be a cop, rather than all the other ways he can go, I hope someone takes him under their wing. If he can pull this off at 14, imagine what he can do as an adult!

Hi Spy,

I keep coming back to the fact that he's trying to be a cop and do good things - not trying to pull it off to get away with something... I mean he really wanted to go on duty and do the job!!! So I'm crossing my fingers for him and I hope there's someone out there that can lend him a little hand. Fourteen's too young to be out there on your own.

Hi Mary,

My first thought was laughter - it is really impressive, I think.

Hey Jersey,

I know, right? I'm hoping in another ten years theres a story about a hero cop getting an award and it turns out to be him.

Mary Witzl said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
silken said...

I did see this Merry! It reminded me of "Catch Me If You Can"!

Merry Monteleone said...

Hi Silken,

Well, it's just so impressive that he could do such a thing at fourteen - and that he wants to do the job, not do something negative. I hope the judge is lenient and that the explorer program can find a mentor for him to keep him on a good path and help him acheive his goals. If someone steps up and helps this kid, he could accomplish amazing things.

Anonymous said...

I hope they do offer this amazing kid some guidance... but the fact that there have already been multiple offenses isn't too promising. Why don't they pick up on this kid's dream?

Merry Monteleone said...

Hi Shelly,

I think it's probably more a matter of no one stepping up to help the kid out. I'm guessing from what I've read that he doesn't have anyone in his personal life that's really trying to guide him. That's what he needs. There are tons of kids in those explorer programs - it would be extraordinary for one of the officers to figure out this kid needs a mentor and step up to be that role model, on his own time in a selfless way.... I guess I'm just hoping for extraordinary.

All of the articles I've read, and blog posts, seem to center on the negative of the police department letting it happen. I don't know how those past offenses will look to a judge - hopefully whoever they give him for an attorney will think to stress the fact that in each of those offenses the kid was really trying to perform the role of a cop, not trying to hurt or scam anyone but actually trying to serve, and with no pay... if I was the judge, that would look damn good.