HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1476        FILED ON: 1/16/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3405

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

David M. Nangle

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to the impersonation of police officers.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1476        FILED ON: 1/16/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3405

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 915 OF 2017-2018.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act relative to the impersonation of police officers.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 33 of chapter 268 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the words “police officer” in line 3.

Section 2. Section 35 of said chapter 268, as so appearing, is hereby striking out the words “of a police officer” in line 8.

Section 3. said chapter 268 is hereby further amended by adding the following section:

Section 41: Whoever falsely assumes or pretends to be a police officer shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or by a fine of not more than $1,000 and imprisonment in a jail for not more than 2 years.

 Whoever while falsely assuming or pretending to be a police officer wears a police uniform or has in his possession a badge or thing in the likeness of an official badge of a police officer shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 10 years or by a fine of not more than $10,000.

 Whoever while falsely assuming or pretending to be a police officer, and is wearing a police uniform or has in his possession a badge or thing in the likeness of an official badge of a police officer, commits a felony shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 25 years.

 Any person who sells police uniforms or badges shall require a photo identification from any purchaser and shall contact the appropriate police department for verification.

  Whoever engages in the unauthorized use of flashing, rotating or oscillating blue or red lights or strobe lights in their vehicle shall be deemed to be engaging in police impersonation and shall be punished by imprisonment in state prison for not more than 2 years and a fine of not more than $5,000.  Whoever engages in the unauthorized possession of such lights within their vehicle shall be punished by a fine not more than $2,000.

  Furthermore, any police officer who observes any such light in place in an unauthorized vehicle or by unauthorized personnel shall pull over the vehicle and confiscate such equipment until authorization for use is properly shown.