Top brass from the Chicago Police Department will go before the City Council’s Police and Fire Committee Friday to explain how a 14 year-old boy was able to breach security at a South Side police station posing as a traffic cop.
Top brass from the Chicago Police Department will go before the City Council’s Police and Fire Committee Friday to explain how a 14 year-old boy was able to breach security at a South Side police station posing as a traffic cop. Police Supt. Jody Weis and several high ranking policemen will have to explain to the committee, chaired by Alderman Isaac Carothers (29th), how an eighth grader, Vincent Richardson, was able to infiltrate police security Jan. 24 and go unnoticed for five hours before officers at the 3rd District Grand Crossing station realized who he was. The teen has been charged as a juvenile for impersonating a police officer and apparently knew the inner workings at the station after previously being a member of an after school program at the station. The incident has outraged residents who said they have lost faith in the police department being able to protect them and their families. “If they can’t keep a watchful eye on their own station, how in the world are they going to protect the community?” said Lawrence Bolder, 48, who lives three blocks from the station where the incident occurred. Carothers said he understands why the community is on edge and hopes the hearing will provide answers. “The citizens of Chicago want to know what happened since it is difficult to understand how a minor and an eighth-grade student could subvert the hierarchy of the Chicago Police Department,” Carothers said. “I remain deeply disturbed that an incident of this nature could take place, virtually unnoticed by police officials.” Mayor Richard M. Daley is also eager to hear from police officials as to what went wrong that day. “You pay a sergeant x amount of money. You pay the field lieutenant x amount of money. These are managers for the police department in that district,” Mayor Daley said at an unrelated city hall news conference. “They have the responsibility to answer all the questions concerning how this person could do this. He’s only 14 years old.” Monique Bond, director of news affairs for the police, said no disciplinary action has been taken against any officers, including a senior officer the boy rode with in a squad car on patrol for several hours. “Before any disciplinary actions can be taken, we need to complete our investigation to find out at what point was there a breakdown,” Bond explained. ______ Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
