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I like police officers. (I especially like the way police spokesmen always say "the pleece department.")
That's why it angered me to learn that former Gizmondo executive Stefan Eriksson (the convicted Swedish multimillionare felon who allegedly crashed a million dollar Ferrari while driving it at 160 MPH on the Pacific Coast Highway) tried to get himself out of a jam by producing a police officer's badge from the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority (SGVTA).
It turns out the SGVTA is a small public benefit agency that provides bus service for disabled people. Even more surprising, the SGVTA really did provide Eriksson with police credentials. (Ron Larson has done an outstanding job looking into the SGVTA on his blog).
What Eriksson did is reprehensible, but at least he was a police officer, of a sort. How about the people who buy totally phony badges and act like cops to get themselves out of jams or to take advantage of other people. Look at this ad from the April 1960 copy of Popular Science for fake police badges ($1.98). The ad states: "A quick flash of one of these gleaming, official-looking badges instantly shows who has the power!" For an additional $5.95 you can handcuff people who have been fooled into thinking you are a cop.
Of course, the phony cop business is alive and well. Take a look at OfficerStore.com, where you can buy everything you need to impersonate a cop, from sirens and signals, to batons and badges. Here's how to make an image of your own "Shield of Valor" like the own show here.
Update: James Witmer,
Sales & Marketing Manager for OfficerStore.com, says "We require an ID on every badge that has anything to do with security, police, homeland security and several other key words. Sure, I can't prevent you from designing a badge and printing it out, but I sure as heck don't allow fake badges to be made and shipped to unauthorized people." (I regret the error. OfficerStore.com is one of the good companies. There are many other places on the web where you can get phony badges, but OfficerStore.com isn't one of them. — Mark)
