Fake cops on patrol in Polk County

Monday, March 24, 2008

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The Polk County Sheriff's Office said beware of two men impersonating police officers in Highgate Park in Davenport.

POLK COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- A rash of car break-ins in a Davenport subdivision led detectives to a disturbing discovery.

"During a neighborhood canvas our detectives discovered that two white males were posing as law enforcement actually identifying themselves as Polk County police," detective Larry Davis said.

In reality, there is no Polk County Police Department. The Polk County Sheriff's Office thinks the fake cops are patrolling the streets to find easy burglary targets.

Highgate Park is made up of mostly vacation rentals. Few people live there year-round. Detectives said that's part of the problem.

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"That is the problem," Davis said. "No one knows who belongs here."

Many of the weekly and monthly renters come from out of state or out of the country.

"To you and I, Polk County police is a contradiction of terms," Davis said. "For someone from say the UK, which is the majority of our vacationers here, they wouldn't know."

The suspects were last spotted last week going door to door carrying gold stars. They asked residents if they owned or rented and what kind of security systems were in their homes.

Detective Larry Davis said the problem with the crimes is that people in the development don't live there year-round and can be fooled by fake law enforcement officers.

A Highgate Park resident who didn't want his identity revealed said the fake cops stopped by his house last week. He said he fears the men could come back and harm his family.

"You trust police officers," the man said. "You trust them, and when you don't know if that's who you're really talking to that's a very scary feeling."

One suspect is described as 6-feet-tall, about 180 pounds with short, brown hair. The other is described as 5-foot-7, about 200 pounds with short, sandy blonde hair. Both were last seen wearing tan pants and button up shirts.

The men displayed six-pointed gold stars and were last seen in a white Ford Taurus. Detectives said real law enforcement officers will always have photo identification prominently displayed, as well as a badge and gun.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call Crimestoppers at (800) 226-0344.