Freedom of Speach?

Streakn1 · Jul 23, 2008

Recently we have seen shirts and jackets with Police, Sheriff, FBI, CSI, Security, etc availible for purchase in truckstops. They have been availible in certains stores for quite some time. Some even closely resemble what would be seen on official law enforcement personnel. Also other items such as the blue dash lights commonly used in un-marked law enforcement vehicles have become easily availible to anyone through the internet and catalogs. Should this be allowed?

Think about it! You are hauling a high value load and an un-marked vehicle attempts to pull you over with a "blue light" flashing on the car's dashboard. A person approaches you in a shirt or jacket liked the ones mentioned and tries to detain you. With these items availible to anyone, at first contact how do you really know if they are legitimate or not? How many times recently have we heard stories from victims that were stopped or approached by what they thought was a legitimate law enforcement officer?

Should these items be allowed to be worn by anyone other than law enforcement personnel? Is it infringing on "Freedom of Speech" if local, state, or federal government were to ban the sale of and make it illegal for John Q Public to wear such items?

Since I paid for my FDCC shirt does that mean that I can still wear it in public even though I'm not leased to them anymore? Or should I sell it back to them? LOL

slfisher45 · Jul 23, 2008

Police impersonation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Police impersonation (impersonating a police officer) is the illegal act of portraying oneself as a member of law enforcement for the purpose of deception. Such acts are generally committed in order to assert police-like authority in order to commit some other crime. Posing as a police officer enables the offender to legitimize the appearance of his/her illegal act, such as gaining entry into a victim's house, making a traffic stop, or detaining. According to the FBI, approximately 10,000 crimes are committed each year in which the offender impersonates a police officer[1].

Dressing up as a police officer in costume, or pretending to be a police officer for the purpose of play or a harmless prank toward an acquaintance is generally not considered a crime, provided that those involved recognize the imposter is not a real police officer, and the imposter is not trying to deceive those involved into thinking s/he is.

Police impersonation has often been committed in the following manners:

Verbal indentification: The imposter announces to the unsuspecting victim that s/he is a police officer, leading the victim to believe it.
Fake badge: The imposter, though not in any special clothes, displays a police-like badge to the victim. While a real police officer will be able to differentiate between the real and fake badge, the average individual may not.
Fake uniform: The imposter wears a uniform that looks very much like that of a police officer, leading the victim to not think twice.
Fake vehicle: The imposter places lights, decals, or other equipment on a personal vehicle to disguise it as a police car and enable the offender to make arrests or traffic stops.
Much of the equipment described above is available for purchase to the general public, thereby enabling imposters to obtain the necessary materials to commit such a crime. While the equipment will not bear the name of a specific law enforcement agency, the unsuspecting victim may not notice the difference.

In a most extreme case, a Hempstead, New York man set up a fake police station in addition to the above, where he interrogated those he "arrested".[2][3]

Some of the following crimes have been committed while impersonating a police officer:

Home invasion, by gaining entry under the guise of a police officer, followed by theft from the premises, rape, or in rare cases, murder.
Armed robbery following a traffic stop
Kidnap following a traffic stop or false arrest
Fake authority, in which the officer attempts to extort money from the victim, claiming it is a fine, or can be paid on the spot to avoid further legal consequences.

Not an answer to your question,but, impersonating a law enforcement officer isn't "Free speech".

yodelr43 · Jul 23, 2008

call 911 before u pull over and ask dispach if they have a officer in your area . if you think something isnt right

ATeam · Jul 23, 2008

I am Ex Fed B. I., Specialized Expediter of Aviation Freight. There will be an extra charge if you want me to wear my cape.

greg334 · Jul 23, 2008

If we start going down the path of putting things off limits like tee shirts and hats, then we start moving down that slippery slope of censorship. Badges are already one thing that is a crime to own in many cases, a knee jerk reaction to a few crimes using stolen badges.

A hat, a shirt does not make one a criminal, and at the same time we allow people who are not LEOs, like rent-a-cops, to dress like and act like they are LEOs.

greg334 · Jul 23, 2008

ATeam said:
I am Ex Fed B. I., Specialized Expediter of Aviation Freight. There will be an extra charge if you want me to wear my cape.

Who was that masked man?

CharlesD · Jul 23, 2008

I understand that these items are sold to people who generally have a sense of respect for the organizations they represent. With that said, I can't bring myself to buy them, especially the military ones. I don't feel I've earned something with a military branch logo on it since I didn't serve.

OntarioVanMan · Jul 23, 2008

CharlesD said:
I understand that these items are sold to people who generally have a sense of respect for the organizations they represent. With that said, I can't bring myself to buy them, especially the military ones. I don't feel I've earned something with a military branch logo on it since I didn't serve.

I think it's disrespectful to those who serve and served...$4.95 doesnt make you a hero!!

dabluzman1 · Jul 23, 2008

Since 911 I have seen "NYFD" caps and t-shirts all over this country.
I dont believe they are making themselves out to be $4.95 heros.
I believe that the majority of them are paying tribute to the NYFD.
A few probably wear them because its fashionable.

I have caps from every branch of service in the USA.
Why? Because I have family, friends and neighbors in the military who send them to me.
I wear them proudly as a sign of respect and support. An honor I am deserving
of doing being a patriot of the greatest country in the world, the good ol' USA.

None of us are bigger than the whole. The military fights for the right of all and this
cannot be overstated or under played. But those at home have an important role as
well. Some do it better than others as we dont have someone barking out orders for
us to follow, sadly some dont do anything. Yet we are all part of the total picture all
part of the USA.
Today our protectors are a well trained military machine, with the ranks filled with
our sons and daughters.
We are not so old of a country that we should foreget that those who established the
the standard of freedom with personal sacrifice for the most part walked off the farm
or from the city into the line of fire. Sometimes without an "army" behind them but
with just a few people like them who believed.
Its not the cap you wear, its how you wear it.
Be proud, support the troops, lets stand as one, proud of our heritage, present and future.
Freedom has a price for all of us.

CharlesD · Jul 23, 2008

dabluzman1 said:
Since 911 I have seen "NYFD" caps and t-shirts all over this country.
I dont believe they are making themselves out to be $4.95 heros.
I believe that the majority of them are paying tribute to the NYFD.
A few probably wear them because its fashionable.

I have caps from every branch of service in the USA.
Why? Because I have family, friends and neighbors in the military who send them to me.
I wear them proudly as a sign of respect and support. An honor I am deserving
of doing being a patriot of the greatest country in the world, the good ol' USA.

None of us are bigger than the whole. The military fights for the right of all and this
cannot be overstated or under played. But those at home have an important role as
well. Some do it better than others as we dont have someone barking out orders for
us to follow, sadly some dont do anything. Yet we are all part of the total picture all
part of the USA.
Today our protectors are a well trained military machine, with the ranks filled with
our sons and daughters.
We are not so old of a country that we should foreget that those who established the
the standard of freedom with personal sacrifice for the most part walked off the farm
or from the city into the line of fire. Sometimes without an "army" behind them but
with just a few people like them who believed.
Its not the cap you wear, its how you wear it.
Be proud, support the troops, lets stand as one, proud of our heritage, present and future.
Freedom has a price for all of us.

I wasn't really saying that I find it disrespectful, but that I just don't feel comfortable wearing them myself because I didn't serve. That's just me. If a person in the military were to give me something like that, I might think differently, but I'm not going to buy them myself.

dabluzman1 · Jul 23, 2008

Hi CharlesD,
I understand and appreciate your belief.
Its your right thats been paid for by many, including yourself.
Maybe there should be a cap along the lines of "USMS" or
United States Military Supporter.
Then you'd have a cap to get the sun out of your eyes.

Back to the original statement of this post, its just not impersonators of law enforcement
but water dept, pizza delivery, city workers, package delivery companies, and other service groups that unscrupulous individuals will imitate to dupe and harm innocent people.
it would be pretty tough to monitor this and if we were, then we would have added to the
censoring of our freedoms.

OntarioVanMan · Jul 23, 2008

"Its not the cap you wear, its how you wear it."

agreed

LDB · Jul 23, 2008

Simple. Anyone that chooses to wear it can do so but if it's worn in conjunction with the commission of a felony that makes it an automatic capital offense with no other sentencing option.