Here’s how to tell if you’re dealing with a real police officer or a fake one
When someone identifies themselves as a police officer, most people take their word for it. But what if those “officers” are lying?
Last weekend, police in Gastonia arrested and charged five men, including one from Charlotte, with impersonating a police officer. The suspects used flashlights and identified themselves as law enforcement as they looked for someone inside motel rooms, police said.
“A serious tragedy may have been averted because the person who called us saw something and said something,” Rick Goodale, spokesman for the Gastonia Police Department, told The Charlotte Observer.
Here are some tips on how to identify someone impersonating as a police officer, according to Goodale:
▪ Real police officers, even those not in uniform, will completely understand if a resident requests to see a badge or a department issued ID. However, those two items are not guaranteed to be legitimate either.
▪ Residents may also call 911 or the non-emergency police number wherever they are located and inquire if the person claiming to be the police is in fact the police.
▪ For traffic stops, if an unmarked vehicle tries to pull you over, stop in a well-lit and populated area — preferably a shopping center, gas station, fire station, etc.
▪ A legitimate police officer should have a badge displayed.
▪ If you’re uncertain about the legitimacy of a stop, call 911 and explain what’s happening. Ask the call taker to verify if the person who initiated the stop is an officer.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 6:45 AM.
