For an NYPD officer, losing your shield is a major headache, leading to lots of annoying paperwork and a penalty that can cost up to 10 days’ pay. So it's an open secret that many officers keep their actual badge at a safe at home, and buy a fake "dupe" badge for everyday use. The Times has an interesting article on the practice, and gets a choice quote from former chief of department, Louis Anemone, who explains that many officers use dupes because they're afraid of losing their real badges at a bar: "You’re going to go get boxed on a Friday or Saturday night. You don’t want to say you lost your shield when you were out drinking, so you carry a dupe." more ›

After a ten month investigation, cops have busted a Suffolk County mail courier who they say forged dozens of realistic-looking deputy sheriff's badges and gave them out to acquaintances. But 54-year-old Peter Mistretta says it's all a big misunderstanding because he runs a male stripper business on the side and the badges were simply part of his employees' costumes. According to police—the real kind you generally don't want to see in G-strings—five shields and ID cards had the shield numbers of active-duty officers. And in July a driver pulled over in Vermont showed the trooper a fake Suffolk sheriff's ID, which was traced to Mistretta. Newsday reports that Mistretta is also in trouble over the five grams of cocaine in his possession when he was arrested—but surely that was just a prop for the Scarface stripper routine. more ›