Don't shoot! I'm just a cop breaking into your home

Orlando Sentinel
Posted: May 19, 2007

KISSIMMEE -- The cops became the criminals Friday and hoped someone would notice.

Capt. James Napier of the Kissimmee Police Department turned himself into a would-be thief when he slithered into a house through a window, then acted as if he were trying to break into cars in a busy parking lot.

The goal: Create burglaries so obvious that unsuspecting citizens would call 911 to alert police.

Napier made his best effort to look like a burglar -- with neon-orange gloves, backpack and a T-shirt that read, "It's all fun and games until the police show up."

So, when did the black outfit and ski mask go out of style for burglars?

"People have a certain picture of what they think a burglar looks like," Napier said at the end of the three-hour exercise. Instead of assessing whether someone looks like a criminal, he said, citizens should ask, "Is it normal for someone to enter a home through a window in the side of the house?"

Normal disappears when police act as if they are breaking laws and hope civilians will step up and care enough to make a phone call. The cops said they were prepared for the unexpected if someone overreacted.

Undercover officers in unmarked vehicles monitored Napier, who was wired with a microphone and carried his badge. In addition, Napier was instructed to run if an uncontrolled situation erupted, said Stacie Miller, a KPD public-information officer. "Our officer's safety was number 1," she said.

But one critic said it was unwise to expose the public to potential danger with such a stunt.

George Crossley, president of the Central Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, was amazed the Police Department would conduct such an exercise in an area he characterized as brimming with gun-toting citizens.

"My first reaction is the whole idea is fraught with danger," he said. "All it would've taken was one guy [who] sees what's coming down and tries to save the situation."

The house-burglary scenario was considered a success when a neighbor across the street called 911 after spotting Napier moving electronic equipment from the house to his black sport utility vehicle in the driveway.

"We like to look out for each other in the neighborhood," said Paul Cruz. "I thought it was kind of strange and suspicious."

The second scenario -- at a Wal-Mart -- was repeated three times. Napier approached a green, city-owned Honda Civic and jimmied open the passenger door. But rather than thinking he was a crook, some passers-by bought his story that he was locked out of his car.

Two men assisted Napier after he told each of them his wife had locked the keys inside. Afterward, both men were told about the set-up. Carlos, who didn't want to give his last name, said the experience taught him not to help someone the next time. Gilberto Sanchez, who works at the store, said he got involved because his job is to help customers.

But an Orlando couple thought an actual crime was going down. Maria and Juve Moreno watched the scene from inside their pickup. They said their first instinct was to call police, but they had once been told by dispatchers to call 911 only in case of an emergency. "I didn't think that was an emergency," Maria Moreno said. "And I didn't have the [non-emergency] police phone number."

The results were eye-opening for KPD's Miller, who said she spent nearly a month planning the exercise after Chief Fran Iwanski gave her the OK to execute what they called Operation Citizen Watch.

Miller said the operation launched the department's summertime motto, "If you SEE something . . . SAY something."

But New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority came up with the slogan first. It launched a counter-terrorism campaign after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and the slogan became a popular catchphrase.

MTA spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla said the slogan has been used by major cities around the world to fight terrorism -- not crime. "So far, there has been an understanding of what the campaign is about," she said from her office in New York. "It's a trademark. Whoever's going to use it, they have to ask for permission."

Miller said she would double-check. Regardless, the message is the same. "We all have that sixth sense within us when something doesn't look right," she said. "We need our citizens to be our eyes and ears."