How dumb can a cop get?

How about...

...a police officer can so be so dumb that they'd consider a 14 year old child "savvy" to impersonate a police officer for five hours. Don't believe me? Here's the article: 14-year-old boy impersonates cop, police say. Now, this part of the article had me laughing and in tears, literally:

The boy identified himself as an officer from another district but was detailed for the day to Grand Crossing and also was savvy enough to sign out a police radio and a ticket book, according to a source. The source also said the boy went on traffic stops with the officer he went on the street with.

This wasn't some kid who came just upon a uniform in some way, shape or form and went out on his own. No! He went to the damn station, greeted everyone, ate some donuts, took a dump, and even joked about O'Malley's wife. He got partnered up with another police officer including getting a radio and ticket book and made traffic stops. And they didn't figure out a damn thing until the "tour" was over. What tipped them off?

After his tour was over, a ranking officer became suspicious of the boy. Police said the officer discovered the teen was not a real police officer when he couldn't produce any credentials. The boy was wearing police-issued pants, shirt, vest, sweater and skull cap, police said. He was missing his police star, but that was not discovered until after he returned from traffic patrol.

So, it took all of those clues to figure out that this child was NOT a real cop but:

Police said the 14-year-old's partner on the traffic assignment did not recognize the boy was underage.

And, it doesn't seem anyone knew a damn thing either. So, this child, this 14 year old baby, went truly undetected at a police station full of people who are charged with the safety of other people. I want to see a picture of this child. He'd better look like a grown man. Unfortunately, because he is a minor, we won't get those images unless waived by the parents.

This is not surprising for me

I know sometimes on my blog it seems I keep track of police officer stupidity but I really don't. It's just so damn prevalent, I can't help but come across something stupid done by police officer. In this case, it's a whole police station. Imagine the stories we aren't hearing in the news.

However, it does surprise me that police officers, well the smart ones at least, don't do more for the integrity of their own profession. They should be out there pointing out police officer stupidity, writing up these guys, and helping the community promote better policies for handling corrupt police officers. But, I guess if any police officers were smart, police stupidity wouldn't be so prevalent. If it was up to me, these guys would have those bright orange leashes for children attached to their backs and permanently lead around by people in the community.

Why would you listen to a police officer?

One thing I take issue with in the news is when they interview police officers about anything, especially marijuana. They all point out how marijuana is dangerous with flubbed statistics, outright lies, pseudoscience, and pure bullshit. But, if you didn't know anything about the topic at hand, you'd think they were an expert at something. Truth is, they aren't experts at anything. The smart cops (they do exist) know and understand topics better, present themselves more professionally, and do the job much better. The problem is that they're usually disrespected by the police officers because of their education and intelligence (see: $815,000 settlement for fired Mountlake Terrace cop). It's like that thug "friend" who tells you, "school is for fools" or some other ignorant anti-education cliche.

All I realize is that the policy on how police are treated and allowed to interact with the community needs a severe adjustment. Police need heavier restraints and real penalties to counter this Judge Dredd attitude and vigilante tactics. I'd like to, at one point in my life, have some respect for law enforcement officers these days. But, with frequent stories in the news only showing the tip of the iceberg of police stupidity, corruption, and malfeasance, I don't think I'll ever have that privilege. Maybe we need another grand disaster for the humanity in any police department to show itself.