Teen Arrested For Impersonating Police Officer

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 25, 2009 9:30PM

A 14-year-old teenager has been arrested for posing as a Chicago Police officer. What shocks us about all of this isn't that the kid tried it, but that he seems to have actually gotten away with it, if only for a short while. The teen showed up at the Grand Crossing District police station (7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave.), complete with uniform, and claimed to be "reporting for duty." Okay...but here's the part that kills us:

The teen was with another police officer for some time, but at no time was behind the wheel of a squad car, Bond said. A Grand Crossing District sergeant later questioned the boy and learned that he was not a police officer.

So exactly how long was the kid getting away with this? We understand that people often don't look their age, but how they didn't recognize a completely fake officer is beyond us. CPD spokeswoman Monique Bond said the kid was a "police explorer," which CBS 2 explained thusly: "The Police Explorer program is part of CAPS and gives young people ages 12-17 "first-hand experience interacting with the community and the police department," according to the City of Chicago website." The incomparable Second City Cop has a nice run-down of what happened, including the fact that the kid actually rode in a squad car with another officer and handled a few calls. How in the blue hell does this happen?