When I was 13 or 14, I spent a couple months with the"Police Explorers", and later the "Engineering Explorers".  Eventually I grew up to impersonate an engineer.  I've been keeping it up for a dozen years now.  It never occurred to me that I could've pulled off the same scheme without all those years of study and pesky student loans!

"14-year-old boy impersonates cop, police say"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
"The boy, who has been charged as a juvenile for impersonating an officer, walked into the Grand Crossing District station, 7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave., dressed in a Chicago police uniform, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. The boy, who reported for duty about 1:30 p.m., partnered with another police officer for about five hours.

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."

So, are cops in general allowed to wake up and choose which area they want to work that day?  Yeah, I know, there's dozens of other questions to be asked here.  But let's see how the city officials have tried to anticipate them and minimize the aghast-ness of the whole thing.

"Bond said the boy "did not write tickets" and said there was "no information to indicate that he [was] ever behind the wheel."
"At an afternoon news conference, police said the boy had no interaction with the public."
"The source said the boy had an empty holster and a newspaper in place of a ballistic vest in his vest carrier."
""The boy was not armed, and the matter is under investigation with Internal Affairs," Bond said."

So how did they finally catch him?

"He was missing his police star, but that was not discovered until after he returned from traffic patrol."

That's right, kids - save your sheriff star from that old-west play set!

Following up on the story, it gets even better.  The kid had been caught doing this before - TWICE!

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/
"A 14-year-old boy charged with impersonating a Chicago police officer over the weekend had been caught twice before for donning a police uniform and pretending to be a cop.
Prosecutors said he is currently on probation on a similar charge of impersonating an officer from December 2007.

His pastor, Rev. Roosevelt Watkins, said the boy had also been stopped by officers just last month at the Ford City shopping mall for wearing a police uniform."

Huh... Maybe all those Hitman scenarios where the player can steal a cop outfit and move around with ease aren't that far fetched.

"On Monday, Watkins, pastor of Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church in Englewood, painted a picture of a boy whose obsession with becoming a cop and troubles at home led him astray.

The 8th grader at Gillespie Elementary School pleaded not guilty to the charges before Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Berman. Broad-shouldered and muscular, he stood before the judge with his hands cuffed behind him. Although only about 5 feet 3, he looked mature for his age. The judge ordered the boy held for a psychological evaluation until his next court appearance on Feb. 27."