From The New York Shitty Inbox: Possible Police Impersonation?

A Green Street resident writes:

I came home the other day and found this flier taped to the wall outside my apartment on Green St. After some investigating, I discovered that late Sunday night two men entered our building through the roof, knocked on my neighbor’s door and flashed a badge trying to get him to let them into his apartment.. Thankfully, he was smart enough not to let them in. I”m curious as to whether you’ve heard of other incidents like this happening in the neighborhood. Also, I wanted to put a friendly reminder out there to lock your doors and windows (and roofs!)…

P.S. Do you or any of your readers have any tips for what to do if we suspect the “police” at the door are not actually police?

Although I have heard of one case of attempted police impersonation and a case housing authority impersonation (which culminated in a robbery at the Cooper Park Houses), I have not heard of any such activity hereabouts. Regardless, this is very disturbing stuff so I brought it to the attention of the commanding officer of the 94th Precinct: D.I. Hurson. He too was very troubled by this. Here’s what he had to say:

This could be very serious, have the person who encountered the “Police” go to the Precinct and report this as possible Police impersonation. Also if someone encounters plain clothes Police and they have reason to believe something is afoul ask them to call uniformed Police to respond, if that doesn’t work call 911 and request a supervisor to respond.

So there you go! If you suspect the person wanting access to your apartment is not a police officer, call the police and request they send either a uniformed officer or supervisor (as Mr. Hurson has indicated). In addition, if you have had such an encounter please follow up with the 94th Precinct and make them aware of what happened. This is serious stuff folks! Community Affairs  (a good place to start for any inquiries/concerns you may have) can be reached via telephone at (718) 383-5298. Call ’em!