What to Look For:

Sgt. Becker says there are things you can look for to ensure your safety when an officer asks you to stop in traffic.

“You don’t have to stop at the exact spot where the officer turned his lights on,” he says, “drive to a lit area if it’s at nighttime.”

He says there are also ways of identifying a true officer.

“We’re going to have the body mics, the radios, we’re going to have guns we’re going to have identification.”

Becker also says it’s important to know your rights.

“If you ask us to present this badge… you have a right to see those things,” he says, “It’s important for the public to know they can trust police officers when they’re being pulled over.”

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Fake Officer Arrest Raises Concerns
07/25/08 - 07:53 PM
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They’re supposed to keep you safe, but Panama City Police arrested a volunteer firefighter Friday.  Cory Shawn Rohr, age 32, with the West End Volunteer Fire Department, is charged with falsely impersonating an officer and three counts of false imprisonment.

“I was just glad to know that he’d be off the streets,” said Brittney Garner, who says she’s relieved to hear the man she says pulled her over is behind bars.

Officials say Rohr pulled over 4 teenagers including Garner in an area behind Carmike Cinema, using his private vehicle and emergency lights.  Sarah Hewitt who was driving the car says she was shocked to hear he was a volunteer firefighter.

“You see them everywhere,” she said, “and I would never expect that especially from a normal person that’s supposed to be helping people.”

This isn’t Rohr’s only run-in with the law.  His criminal record spans over 10 pages and goes back to 1993.  He was found guilty of a similar charge of impersonating an officer in 1997.

“It scares me because I bet there’s a lot more people out there that they are not aware of that are like that,” said Garner.

County officials say state statute only excludes applicants with crimes committed in the past 4 years.  They checked driving records for the past 3 years when he applied in 2005, so his license suspension in 1997 didn’t show up. 

Rohr’s arresting officer Sgt. Jeffrey Becker says the impersonation doesn’t make his job any easier.

“It is frustrating,” he said, “because we are there for the community we are a community service organization so whenever somebody undermines everything we’re doing by a stupid act well then that ends up harming us as a whole.”

Bay County Battalion Chief Brad Monroe helped during the investigation to track down Rohr.  News13 questioned the West End Volunteer Fire Chief about the application process for volunteers.  He declined to comment.

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