Teen cop impersonator drove squad car, worked full shift

A teenager impersonating a Chicago police officer played a minor role in an arrest on January 24, according to Police Superintendent Jody Weis.



On Tuesday, Supt. Weis called on the U.S. Secret Service for a review of the security breach, which he called "outrageous, angering, disturbing and unforgettable."

"In my mind it's almost incomprehensible it could have happened. Unfortunately it did. It's very disturbing, and that's why we want to send a message that this can't happen again," said Supt. Jody Weis, Chicago Police Dept.

Weis said an internal investigation shows seven Chicago police officers broke department rules during the incident. All districts will be re-trained, according to Weis.

The 14-year-old boy- a former police cadet and apparent aspiring police officer- entered the back door at the Grand Crossing District Station on the city's South Side on January 24. He was dressed in regulation clothing and police say it's not clear where he got the uniform. He had no gun or CPD star, but was issued a radio and was sent out with a traffic officer. He worked an entire 5 1/2 hour shift.

"During that time the subject drove the squad car for approximately two hours, interacted with the public while responding to at least five assignments, operated the portable data terminal and participated in the detention of a suspect," said Supt. Weis.

The impersonator played a minor role in the arrest of a violation of order of protection, Weis said. The boy briefly held the suspect's arm behind his back.

After the shift, the teenager and the relatively new female officer he was riding with returned to the station, where a supervisor, unidentified, realized the teen was not an officer and had him arrested.

"I don't know. They weren't paying attention - perhaps- maybe they were lax. That's why we did the investigation. Those answers we have to hold tight until we go through the adjudication stage," said Supt. Weis.

For that reason, Weis said, the names of the 7 officers facing discipline, and the nature of the recommended sanctions cannot now be disclosed.

"Based on contract agreements we can't identify the officers and in these situation if we gave out the ranks it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to realize who they actually were," said Supt. Weis.


How is it so many others missed the fact the teen was not a cop - and unable to legally drive? or the fact that it was a teenager for that matter??

The boy's name has not been released. He pleaded not guilty in juvenile court.

He is no longer in custody, but is wearing an electronic monitoring device.

Office holiday party etiquette

Tis the season...For Holiday office parties!! A time when eager employees get the perfect opportunity to cozy up to their bosses - or ruin their reputations.

Offering up a toxic mix of free booze, pent-up frustration and awkward interactions, these festive soirees have been providing the grist for office gossip mills for decades.

They also have left careers in tatters.

Holiday parties are very dangerous; a person can ruin his or her career in just one cocktail party overload.

You need to remember that the office holiday party is more "office" than "party". Your career needs you to act accordingly.

We've all heard about the person who got so drunk at the office party that they groped a co-worker, told off the boss, and passed out under the buffet table. Monday morning they couldn't remember what happened, but they still had to try to work with those people.

You may have seen it happen. You may even have been the unfortunate who did it. Either way, you probably know what happened to that person. They were either fired outright or shut out until they resigned.

Very few companies tolerate that kind of behavior. Your attempt at being the "life of the party" may cost you your job.
It may also cost you your life, or at least your freedom. If you drive drunk, you may kill yourself or someone else. While some companies arrange for taxis or hotel rooms for employees who over indulge, and the Web is full of resources to help you avoid the problem, the final responsibility ultimately rests with you.

In order to help you avoid committing an office party disaster, follow my advice - don’t do any of the following:

1. Don’t get wasted. Pounding back a few brews and shooting tequila may have made you the king of your college frat parties, but ending an office party with your underwear on your head will get you few plaudits at work. Drink slowly and have just one or two drinks. Better yet, plain club soda or soft drinks are ALWAYS safe.

2. No kissy face with colleagues. Even if you’ve been salivating for months over the guy or girl two cubicles away, now is not the time to make your move. Whether you get to first base or get rejected, the result will be the same: you’ll become the butt of jokes for weeks, maybe even months.

3. Curb your inner stripper. A little dirty dancing will certainly get your boss’ attention. But you’re much better off impressing everyone with your mind rather than a bump and grind - even a silly one.

4. Invite the right date. Who you "roll" with reflects who you are. That guy or girl who doesn’t bathe regularly is a no-no. So is anyone who is covered in facial tattoos or piercings or includes the words “like”, “dude”, “yo” or “son” in every sentence.

5. Dress appropriately. This is the time to relax with your co-workers, not show off that new hip-hugging skirt, groin hugging trousers, any new Victoria's Secret purchase, Calvin's or C-IN2 Sling Support Lo No Show Profile Briefs. Keep your flesh covered.

Remember that the annual office holiday party is still a business function. It's wrapped in a social context, but it's still a business function. Many other business events have a social context, such as taking the client to lunch or attending the charity dinner to receive the award for the company. Those who observe your behavior at the office holiday party will remember it when they consider you for other business social events. The good news is it works both ways.

I'm not suggesting that your bosses are specifically watching your every move at an event like this. Obviously they can't watch everyone all the time. Besides, they are trying to enjoy the party and to use it for their own purposes. However, rest assured your behavior will be observed by someone whose opinion can impact your job and future.

Using it to your advantage

The good news is that you can just as easily use the annual office holiday party to advance your career as you can to cripple it. It's an opportunity for you to demonstrate your ability to handle business situations of a social nature, something that is required of senior level executives.

It's an opportunity for you to meet the CEO and other senior executives of your company that you might not have met before, or have seldom had the opportunity to speak with.
Finally, it is an opportunity for you to let your coworkers know how much you appreciate their support and assistance during the year.

You don't have to spend all night at the event, but you do have to attend. Plan to arrive soon after the event is scheduled to start. Everyone will still be "fresh". They won't have repeated the same greeting, and small talk several dozen or hundreds of times yet.

Find your host, the boss.
Thank him or her and take advantage of the opportunity to chat, but don't monopolize your host. Others will want to make their greetings too. Don't try too hard to make a good impression and end up making the wrong impression.

Mingle. Introduce yourself to someone you don't know. It may turn out to be someone who can help you on that next project. Or just someone who turns out to be an interesting person.
Not the mingling type? Then find someone who looks as miserable as you feel and speak to them. You'll both enjoy the evening more.

If you haven't eaten yet (came straight from the office huh?) go ahead and sample a few items from the buffet. Be sure to select things you can eat neatly, with one hand, while standing up. Stay away from salty or greasy foods that make you want to drink more. Choose foods high in starch and protein that will help slow the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream.

Watch what you drink. Keep reminding yourself that this is a business event first and a party second.
A good idea, is to keep the drink glass in your left hand so when you shake hands with someone, your hand isn't wet or cold.

Take advantage of the party atmosphere. Seek out the individuals who can influence your career. Do your homework ahead of time so you can speak with them about their division's newest release, or their favorite sports team, or the play you saw last week. You can talk business, but don't "talk shop". After an appropriate interval, excuse yourself and move on.

When you have spoken to all or most of the bosses, coworkers, and new people you planned to, gracefully make your exit. As you leave, thank your host for the enjoyable evening.

One last thing. If you made any verbal commitments to any of the people at the holiday party, make sure to follow up on them. Try to write them down as soon as you get home so you don't forget.

Happy Holidays

Pregnant Woman Given Speeding Ticket When She Asks For Help

In news that's DEFINITELY strange, and absolutely TRUE:

Boston has some of the most congested roads that I have ever seen. Once I was driving from Logan Airport and trying to enter the tunnel. Traffic was backed up and tempers overheated. I actually witnessed a man exit his car and bend the antenna of another car and beat on the hood with his hands, denting the car.

In another incident, I was driving in Quincy and I admit that I turned on a yellow light that became red as I went through it. I was hailed down by Quincy’s finest who began to verbally berate me, shined a light into my rented XC90 and told me to wait. He also told me that “all you New Yorkers are alike with your fancy Volvos.” It was a rental car and I told him that I am not from New York, but he was such an anger ball, that did not extinguish those flames.

90 minutes later, I was still in the New York-plated Volvo rental car waiting for the anger ball to give me my ticket. Since I was already way late to where I was going, I got out of the car to simply ask him how much longer it would be since there was no reason to detain me for that long except sheer nastiness. I asked him nicely how much longer it would be and he threatened to arrest me. OK. There ought be a law!

In another crazy traffic incident in Boston, a pregnant woman in labor was stuck in traffic. Her husband started driving in the breakdown lane and they actually pulled up behind a state trooper to see if they could continue to use the breakdown lane to reach the next exit. According to the Boston Globe,

Jennifer Davis holding her "evidence" - Charlotte

Not only did the trooper say no, he gave them a $100 citation for driving in the breakdown lane, made them wait for their citation while he finished writing someone else’s ticket, and even seemed to ask for proof of pregnancy, Jennifer Davis said.

“He said, ‘What’s under your jacket?’ I said, ‘My belly,’ ” Davis said. “He waited and gestured with his head like, ‘OK, let’s see it.’ He waited for me to unzip my jacket. I mean, it was so clear that I was pregnant.”

The Davis's say the contretemps occurred after two other troopers they encountered had waved them along in the highway breakdown lane, allowing them to evade gridlock while advising them to be cautious and keep their hazard lights on.

You can't make stuff like this up...There is something wrong with some of the cops in Boston, seriously!

$25billion for the automakers??

I Was reading an article just a few minutes ago (browser crashed before I could save the link) that discussed whether the government should help out the big 3 automakers, bail them out....

Here's a thought though, Instead of spending $25billion, to bail out these automakers that already make millions of dollars in profits (well, maybe right now they're not, they need this money so they can go back to making millions) why not spend just a fraction of that, to assist the citizens of the country....

I'm sure the total credit card debts that people have right now, that they're having trouble paying due to the poor economy, is far less then $25billion dollars... the population of North America is approximately 514 million people, I'm SURE people's credit card debts aren't a million dollars, well into the thousands maybe, but no where near a million....
So using even $1Billion of that $25billion that they would be giving to the automakers, use that to help out the people of the country...as a good will gesture (a Christmas present if you will) would do way more long term for the country, with people no longer having to worry about there debts, having to scrape together money to pay debts they have, then pay bills and feed there families.... Would really be a morale booster for the entire continent (as I'm using the 514million number to mean all of North America) with people now having money for savings, they can move on with working towards there futures without the stresses they had...

Perhaps also go a little further? earmark $2 billion for persons that are well behind on there mortgages, in danger of losing there homes and ending up on the streets.....

This economic turmoil has been brutal on business, especially "the little guy" those businesses open long hours, working hard to serve the customers, and at the end of the month, barely getting by with just enough business to pay the bills and employee wages... some not being able to last longer then a few months because of it... While you'll see other businesses, some that have been open for 30-50 years, some even more, going under because they can no longer survive due to rising operating costs and with people not having money to spend, business is obviously going to be slow, especially during this holiday season, that so many businesses depend on for more sales to keep them going until next year... these businesses that have been mainstays in communities are going under.... how about $3billion towards assisting small businesses...

Finally, $1millon, spread out as a gift to all 514million (equals $1,945.52 each) people living on this great continent...to truly make these holidays, happy.......

Why not do this instead of handing over a blank cheque of $25billion to the "Big 3" to keep them going so they can continue to make there millions...

But then... an idea like this only makes sense right? and its better to take care of the big guys, make sure they're happy and keep them going, and leave the little guys to fend for themselves... so it's not an idea that would become a reality right? a government that cares for the citizens that elect them rather then the big businesses that line there pockets... naaaah... can't happen right?

Give me your thoughts on this...

I spy with my little eye....

Some great videos........

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