A group of fans of the New York City Police Department have kickstarted their own club celebrating the Big Apple's law enforcement uni...
A group of fans of the New York City Police Department have kickstarted their own club celebrating the Big Apple's law enforcement unit by mimicking it in Brazil's largest city.
Fabio Denzin and his friends are obsessed with the NYPD, one of the world's most recognizable police forces, and are inspired by nostalgia from cop movies and shows like 'Law & Order.'
Their hobbies include refurbishing NYPD cars and motorcycles.
Pedestrians in São Paulo certainly have been confused with the swirl of red lights and blaring sirens each time they spot the motorcade heading down the street.
Mariani Morandi (from left, pictured at Pacaembu Stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil), Michelle Grasso and Johnny Brito love to recreate the NYPD's cars and motorbikes as a hobby
Eduardo Tai and Mariani Morandi, members of a group of Brazilian fans of New York City Police Department
Mariani Morandi, a member of a group of Brazilian fans of NYPD, with a pet dog as part of the group's 'K9 unit'
'To tell you the truth, it creates some confusion sometimes,' said Denzin, who owns not just a Ford Crown Victoria painted as a NYPD car, but also a van and motorcycle.
'People even think that it is the real police from New York on patrol, as if they came to Brazil to help the local police.'
While impersonating a police officer is a crime in Brazil and many countries, Denzin and fellow NYPD fans said they are in the clear because they are not pretending to be actual Brazilian police.
Brazil has a history of crimes involving police impersonation, including a 2019 heist in which investigators said robbers used Brazilian federal police livery to enter an airport and steal $40 million worth of gold and other metals.
A man poses leaning on a car of Brazilian fans of NYPD in São Paulo
A group of Brazilian fans obsessed with the New York Police Department own at least three cars as a well as motorcycle outfitted with the emblems of the police force and sirens
'It's our passion. Some like military cars, others like boats and we like police liveries,' said Eduardo Tai, who started working on his NYPD replica car 11 years ago.
He bought a civilian version of a Crown Victoria, which Ford Motor Company introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 2011. Tai then went on e-commerce sites like eBay where he purchased NYPD accessories for the vehicle.
Tai and his cohort have gotten used to the attention.
'A lot of people approach us and start talking to us in English, so you also need to learn a bit of that to speak some English back,' said Johnny Brito, dressed in an NYPD uniform he bought online and sitting on a Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle with NYPD's Highway Patrol police branding.
Eduardo Tai said he purchased a Crown Victoria, which Ford Motor Company introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 2011. He then went on eBay and bought NYPD accessories for the vehicle
Brazilian fans of New York City Police Department parade through São Paulo in a fleet of motorcycles and cars that resemble famous police force's fleet
A fleet of motorcycles and cars similar to those used by the NYPD drive on a bridge in São Paulo, Brazil. The vehicles belong to a group of fans who are obsessed with the Big Apple's police force
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