Fake Cops - A trend or media hype?

I've been seeing stories about people impersonating police officers like the one linked below more and more in recent months, is this really a 'thing' or is it like the 'Shark attack conspiracy' that was building in the media shortly before the 11th of September 2001 simply a case of the media latching onto a 'hot story'.

Quote:

SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) — Police say a man who set up a drunken-driving checkpoint complete with road flares while pretending to be a Pennsylvania state trooper was drunk.

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via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1Gpaqy6