September 25, 2015
Officials continue to search for suspects who broke into the personal cars of two Philadelphia police officers and stole belongings including a gun and uniform.
Investigators say the first incident occurred last Saturday, September 19 when a thief stole an officer's duty rig containing a gun, magazine and handcuffs. In the second incident on Wednesday, September 23, a thief stole an officer's uniform, according to NBC10.
Officials did not reveal the location of the thefts. As part of the investigation, officials are reviewing surveillance video to identify the suspects and recover the stolen items.
The two thefts raised concerns about the possibility of suspects impersonating police officers during Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia. Earlier this week, NBC News reported that the Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Intelligence Center distributed a memo to law enforcements officers warning about the threat of imposters seeking to coordinate attacks.
The document, citing recent instances of authorities thwarting plots, noted that terrorists may shop at businesses that cater to first responder personnel. It advised police officers to be vigilant for theft of first responder uniforms, equipment and vehicles.
"A wide variety of products such as clothing, weapons and tactical gear can be purchased on the Internet by any consumer, regardless of a confirmed affiliation to emergency services, government or law enforcement agency."
Philadelphia Police Lieutenant John Stanford, who clarified that police officers should not be leaving equipment in personal vehicles, addressed the public safety concern.
“We don’t have any concerns of anything of that nature,” he said. “There’s no credible threat of any nature concerning the Pope or the visit at all. Our officers are still required to have identification, police-issued ID as well as their state ID. Again, that’s something we have more than one way to reference in terms of who the police officer is, not just by the uniform that they wear.”
Philadelphia Police Internal Affairs is assisting with the investigation.
