Cop Blog: Concealing Tape Is 'Your New G8 Best Friend'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There is a suggestion on a Chicago Police officer's Web site for how officers can avoid citizen complaints during the expected street protests when the G8 and NATO summits come to town this spring.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, the Second City Cop blog published a headline,, "Your new G8 best friend" above a picture of a roll of electrical tape and says, "Use as necessary," going on to say, "It's not for securing anything," and "Hint – it covers things."
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Those "things" include officers' badges and nameplates. But an Oakland, Calif., police officer recently learned that was a bad idea when this video was shot during an Occupy demonstration:
In the Nov. 2 demonstration, a man can be heard questioning Oakland police Officer John Hargraves on whether or not it is policy for officers to hide their name badges. The officer was covering his name tag with black tape when a bystander, Terrence Jerrod Williams, started videotaping.
Williams was then seen asking Hargraves' superior, "Is it against policy for cops to hide their name badges?"
It turned out the answer was yes. CBS San Francisco reports Hargraves' superior, Lt. Kenneth Wong, whispered something and removed the tape from the name tag.
Afterward, Hargraves was slapped with a 30-day suspension. Wong was demoted for failing to report the incident properly.
A veteran Chicago Police officer told WBBM Newsradio that clear nail polish on a police badge will do the trick to without the trouble, making identifying information blurry.
We ask a OPD officer why he had his name badge covered.... from BLK PXLS on Vimeo.
