Chicago Cop in Hot Water for Use of Personal Car

SKOKIE, IL - A Chicago police officer is under investigation for having his personal car look too much like an undercover cop car.

Skokie police photographed the 2014 Ford Police Interceptor belonging to Derek Saxton while it was parked at the AMC Movie Theater at Village Crossing on Jan. 7, according to the Chicago Tribune. The car featured several items common in unmarked police cars such as mounted lights in the front and back windows and a spotlight on the driver’s side.

Police officers in Chicago are forbidden from equipping private cars with police emergency equipment. Saxton has been placed on desk duty after hearing about the incident from the Skokie police.

Saxton, now 35, was charged with a misdemeanor nearly nine years ago in a similar incident in which he allegedly had illegal flashing lights after being pulled over on grounds he was driving a car that resembled one that someone who would impersonate a police officer would drive.

Saxton was not a police officer at the time, having been hired in 2012. The charge was dropped.

more via the Chicago Tribune