The Press-Enterprise August 15, 2003
Police gear easy to find
CONCERNS: The ready access of law enforcement equipment is a worry, a security expert says
By Richard Brooks
Everyone from police impostors to male strippers has easy access -- on the Internet and in some stores -- to police uniforms and accessories, and even to flashing lights and other paraphernalia for cars.
"If you wanted to have the authentic uniform, you're probably looking at (as little as) $150 for the uniform . . . and everything that goes with it," said Dennis Pelissero, a retired San Bernardino police officer who managed a uniform store in Riverside for 13 years. "You can buy a windbreaker with 'Police' on it for $20."
Much of it is even legal for civilians to possess.
"You can put an amber or green light bar on your car," said Officer Ron Seldon of the California Highway Patrol. "You can put a (metal) 'cage' in the back. Even spotlights, and maybe a push-bumper. But if you have any markings or insignia that say you work for a police agency, that's a felony."
Also illegal: red or blue lights, sirens, or wearing a badge.
Leaving the wrong impression isn't a good thing, bail bond agent Jesse Adrian Wagner found out this week. The Temcula man was arrested in Bloomington and briefly jailed on suspicion of impersonating a peace officer and on suspicion of being a felon in possession of weapons and a bullet-resistant vest. Wagner also is suspected in the robbings of at least two motorists, San Bernardino County sheriff's detectives have said.
Wagner used a badge and police-style uniform to portray himself as a state warrant officer, investigators say. They also say his white 1998 Ford Crown Victoria police edition sported spotlights and a back-seat security cage -- along with a red light behind the windshield and a siren.
Web sites with names like CheaperThanDirt, Family Defense Products and Inter-American Security Products offer handcuffs for as little as $10, pepper spray for between $10 and $20, stun guns for $50 and bullet-resistant vests for $250.
With the heightened security atmosphere triggered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, police impostors have great potential for causing mischief, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org.
"I think it's a much larger issue than is officially acknowledged, because the opportunities for fake cops to rob people is quite real -- particularly to rob drug dealers," Pike said by phone from Washington, D.C. "You take their drugs, you take their money and you turn them loose. And what's the (potential) complaint -- 'Someone stole my drugs?' "
On Thursday, a man in San Bernardino tried to buy a shirt that would have identified him as a federal agent.
"He brought in a uniform shirt and he wanted 'Federal Police' (to be imprinted) on the back," said Jocelynn Greenwood, of Greenwood's Uniforms. "My salesperson asked to see his ID . . . and he said he didn't have ID, so we wouldn't do it for him. We've been in business since 1931 and we can tell someone who looks a little shady."
Reputable uniform stores will sell police-style pants, shirts and other garments to nearly anyone, Greenwood said. But they'll demand identification from customers who want the store to attach police patches, badges or other official identification to the uniforms, she said.
Not every civilian who wants to buy police uniforms and paraphernalia is a crook or potential terrorist.
For example, consider the guy who walked into Inland Uniforms in Riverside during the 1990s and wanted to buy motorcycle-officer pants and a police shirt with patches.
"I sold him the pants and shirt, because clothes are clothes," said Pelissero, the store's former manager. "But he wanted patches and stripes, and we wouldn't sell that to him, and it made me suspicious.
So Pelissero did some checking and solved the mystery.
"He was a male stripper."
© Copyright 2003, The Press-Enterprise
