News: New Need for Fake Police Badge Crack Down

Press Release

NEWS: NEW NEED FOR FAKE POLICE BADGE CRACK DOWN

After another set of reports that fake police badges were being distributed to bounty hunters and convicted felons, Representative Anthony D. Weiner (D - Brooklyn and Queens) called for a renewed crack down on the production and distribution of fake badges. In 2006, Weiner, a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, passed his legislation to ban the sale of counterfeit police badges.

Recent reports have found that the owners of the U.S. Recovery Bureau, a school to train individuals to be bounty hunters, were handing out fake police badges to graduates of the program - many of whom were convicted felons at the time they underwent the training. These former convicts then used the badges to impersonate cops during a string of robberies.

The fake badges distributed by the group had a similar design, color, and inscription as badges worn by New York City police officers.

Rep. Weiner said, "It used to be with a few dollars and the click of a mouse, anyone could impersonate a New York City police officer. Now we have vigilantes handing badges to former convicts without any regard to public safety. The logic is simple: if you are not a police officer you should not be wearing a police badge."

The NYPD receives more than 1,200 complaints each year about impersonators using fake badges to commit crimes.

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