For just $1,200, you can become a cop — complete with a gun and badge

For just $1,200, you can become a cop — complete with a gun and badge
(Image credit: iStock)

If you've always wanted to become a cop, consider moving to Michigan.

For $1,200, you can join the Oakley Police Department as a "reserve police officer." You'll get a uniform, a bulletproof vest, and a gun, as well as a police badge. And you can carry the gun "almost anywhere in the state, including places that people with normal gun permits can't," Vocativ reports.

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Reznick sees the department's initiative as a positive one for the town, because it has raised a considerable amount of funding for Oakley. But others are concerned. "There's no way to put a number on these people, which is part of the larger problem," David LeMontaine, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan, told Vocativ. And the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards as well as the state's attorney general are investigating the program. Reznick, however, isn't worried, saying he hasn't broken any laws.

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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.