Gibson County Sheriff’s Department investigates officer impersonation incident

GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn. — An investigation is underway after a report of a driver being pulled over by someone impersonating a law enforcement officer.

According to a Facebook post from the Gibson County Sheriff’s Department, Sunday morning, a black GMC SUV with a blue light on the windshield, pulled over a person between Milan and Bradford.
This person was not a police officer.

Milan Police Chief Bobby sellers says, it’s important people know the real officer from the impostor.

“I can’t speak for every law enforcement agency but in Milan, most of our patrol officers, their vehicles are clearly marked and the officers wear a uniform that clearly identifies them as being Milan police officers,” said Chief Sellers.

Chief Sellers says the police department does have detectives with unmarked cars with blue lights on them, but in most cases they would not stop a person without assistance.

“From time to time, they may initiate a traffic stop if they see a violation, if they think it’s serious enough but in general, most of the time they would call for a patrol officer to make that traffic stop and the plain clothes detective would be there while that’s happening,” said Chief Sellers.

Chief Sellers says impersonating a law enforcement officer is very rare.
If it does happen, it most likely is always in a rural area, where there are fewer people and a lack of police officers.
He says if you feel you are being stopped by a person and you are uncertain they are actually law enforcement, you can pull over when you feel safe.

“Obviously they don’t want to speed up or give indication that they’re fleeing in case it is a legitimate police officer, but with people impersonating police officers, and doing things like that, there’s nothing wrong with them going at a safe speed until they get to a house or a store or somewhere where there’s other people around,” said Chief Sellers.

No additional information was given about the initial stop that happened Sunday.
This is an ongoing investigation by the Gibson County Sheriff’s Department.
If you have been pulled over by this person, contact the Gibson County Sheriff’s Department at (731) 855-1121 or (731) 692-3714.