Teen Cop Wasn't First Time Imitator

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 27, 2009 4:45PM

The story of the 14-year-old teen who was caught impersonating a cop keeps getting crazier and crazier. We already know he went out on calls and even went on calls with another officer; now it's coming out that this wasn't even the first time the kid has done this. Turns out the kid is still on probation from a December 2007 incident in which he was caught impersonating an officer and, according to his pastor, just last month officers caught the kid at Ford City Mall wearing a uniform. The big story here, obviously, is how bad this makes the Chicago Police Department look. Second City Cops says:

Station security is a joke and has been for years. Doors that don't open. Doors that stay open. Sally-ports that don't function. Lockup doors that don't lock. Civilians with no ID running around. Homeless encampments racked with how many strains of TB, Hepatitis and all manner of virus, germ and EPA Biohazard Superfund potential.

This kid identified an "egregious" flaw? Not at all. This kid exploited an egregious flaw that's been in place for years.

Do you know what we saw today? We saw J-Fed make the smartest move he's made to date. He stayed away from the press conference. And do you know why he was right to do so? Because these flaws, these shortcomings, these "egregious" and monumental lapses in building security were in place long before J-Fed got here. Decades in some cases.

But what about the kid? We may be going down the wrong trail, but something about this kid really intrigues us. In a time when it's commonplace for kids in urban environments to portray police as the villain, this kid obviously wants more than anything to be a police officer. When was the last time you heard a story like that? It in no way excuses the teen from his actions, but the underlying story here is the chance to save another kid from slipping through the cracks. According to the Trib:

On Monday, [Rev. Roosevelt] Watkins, pastor of Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church in Englewood, painted a picture of a boy whose obsession with becoming a cop and troubles at home led him astray.

The boy, an 8th grader at Gillespie Elementary School, pleaded not guilty to the charges before Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Berman. Broad-shouldered and muscular, he stood before the judge with his hands cuffed behind him. Although he is only about 5 feet 3, he looked mature for his age. The judge ordered the boy held for a psychological evaluation until his next court appearance on Feb. 27.

For more than a year, the boy was a police explorer, shadowing cops and hanging out at the Englewood District, where he presumably picked up police lingo, Watkins said. He was kicked out of the program after he was arrested in December 2007 when officers spotted him dressed in police clothes near the Englewood District station and grew suspicious because of his young appearance.

Again, we could be completely wrong about this kid, but here's hoping someone somewhere along the line sees the silver lining in his actions, gets the kid the help he needs, and gets him on the right path.

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