Impersonating A Law Enforcement Officer

Several months ago, police approached a man who was sitting in an ordinary looking parked car in a driveway in Florida and asked him why he was there. He said that he was a police officer and that monitoring the area was part of his duties, and he showed them a police badge to prove it. The police investigated, and they found out that the man in the unmarked car had previously been a police officer, even winning awards for his work, but that he had lost his job earlier in the year because of a downward spiral involving domestic violence and illicit drugs. The police arrested the man, and he is now facing felony charges for impersonating an officer. The legal consequences for pretending to be a law enforcement officer when you are not vary widely according to the context. If you are facing criminal charges for impersonating a police officer, contact a West Palm Beach criminal defense lawyer.

Context Is Everything When It Comes to Criminal Charges for Impersonating a Police Officer

If the state wants to charge you with impersonating a police officer, they will first have to prove that you were doing something that a reasonable person would assume that only a police officer would do. The following are common signs that someone is impersonating a police officer or intends to signal that he or she is a police officer:

• Wearing a police uniform
• Displaying a police badge
• Riding in a car made to look like a patrol car, or an ordinary car equipped with blue lights to give the impression that it is an undercover police car

As for the severity of the charges for impersonating an officer, it depends on the circumstances. If you are only using your pseudo-cop status to engage in mundane police work, such as directing traffic at a four-way stop, or to get preferential treatment at local restaurants, then impersonating a police officer is a misdemeanor. By contrast, using your pseudo-cop status to commit another crime is a felony. For example, impersonating a police officer is a felony if you do it for the purpose of buying, selling, or stealing controlled substances or to intimidate someone into engaging in sexual acts with you.

Sometimes Pretending to Be a Cop Is Perfectly Legal

Your actions only count as impersonating an officer if you reasonably believe that people will think you are a police officer. It does not count as impersonating a police officer if you wear a police uniform to a costume party, even if the uniform looks real. Everyone at the party knows that it is a costume party, and some of the other guests are dressed in the uniforms of professions they do not practice. Furthermore, some of the other guests know you and know that you are not a police officer.

Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today

Attorney William Wallshein has more than 41 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County.  Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

miaminewtimes.com/news/ex-miami-dade-officer-of-the-year-arrested-for-cosplaying-as-cop-40490328/