North Shore Police Commander Inspector Les Paterson says the recent arrest of a man for impersonating a police officer is a timely opportunity to remind everyone to request or verify a person's identity whenever there's uncertainty.
The 27 year old man was arrested on Wednesday on the North Shore. He was caught shoplifting. He had a quantity of elaborately forged Police business cards in his possession. They implied he was a Police Constable at Takapuna.
"This man is certainly NOT a member of my staff, NOR is he a member of the New Zealand Police," Inspector Paterson said.
"Of concern to us is the level of damage he may have potentially done within the wider community already. We would like to hear from anyone who has recently had any form of communication with a man who has personally identified himself as a police officer, by using these elaborate business cards."
"Business cards are NOT proof that the holder is a Police Officer."
"Our Police investigators are often dressed in plain clothes but if anyone has doubts about the identity of such a person then they can request to view the officer's formal identity card or call their local police station to verify them."
"Police have our own email server. We do not use email addresses that are associated with private providers such as "hotmail" or others," Inspector Paterson said.
The man has been charged with theft and impersonating a police officer and will appear in the North Shore District Court on Monday 10 December 2007 - He is presently on bail.
Anyone who has been approached by this impersonator is asked to contact Constable Brian McKinney on 09 477 5000 - or - text in confidence to the offender text line at 027 27 27 669.