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Serious Stuff
Disguised
PC Magazine Spring 2007
By Maja Ostojic
Did you ever think about who is knocking at your door? When someone is at your front door you may think that it is your family member or a very close friend. However, did you ever think about a cop showing up at your door, but you had no idea that he or she may not be a real cop? A couple of months ago I was looking through Cosmopolitan Magazine and I found an interesting article called “Rapist in Uniform.” I didn’t realize that stuff like this was actually happening to all these people out there.
Since not everyone reads Cosmopolitan, I thought that it would be a really good idea to inform people about stuff like this. According to the article, a man would show up at someone’s house dressed like a cop. The fake cop usually went to the houses of single, living-alone females. He would knock on her door and say that that police department is conducting an investigation about a recent crime that happened in the neighborhood and he simply needed to go door to door asking questions. However, what this woman doesn’t know is that he is wearing a fake badge and a fake cop uniform. The next thing the woman knows she is being attacked by this so-called cop.
This is a relatively new subject to many people and there are not that many statistics about it. However, it is believed that this type of assault is increasing. The Chicago Sun-Times reported in its investigation last January that there have been more than a thousand cases of fake cops attacking women in Chicago in the past three years. In New York City, 25 cops were assigned to search for a man who was using a fake badge in order to get girls into his car. Last February, a man was arrested in New York City for brutally raping and killing Imette St.Gullen while she was leaving a bar in Manhattan. This same man was also accused of trying to pull a 19-year-old girl into his van, but luckily she survived. In California, a man driving a police car pulled over a woman and sexually assaulted her. He has not been arrested yet. In Virginia, a man tried to enter a woman’s house saying he had a warrant and he had the right to come in.
These men are considered very harmful and dangerous, but there are a few things you can do. If there is a police car behind you with flashing lights and the car is not marked, do not stop right away. Turn on your blinkers and keep driving until you come to a place that is lit up and call 911. Inform the dispatcher that you are being followed and she will tell you if it is safe to pull over. The cop may be undercover and he can still pull you over. Just remember that a real cop would not ask you to get out of your car if it is a routine traffic violation.
Some of these cops may also ask to enter your home. Before you let him in, make sure to ask for his badge, his ID, and a business card. Again, make sure you call 911 to verify that he is a real cop. This can be very scary and it can happen to anyone. However, in these kinds of situations, you can always do something to prevent yourself from being attacked.
More Spring 2007 Serious Stuff Articles
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