Impersonating a Police Officer (NSW)
In New South Wales, it is a serious criminal offence to impersonate a police officer. This offence usually attracts a sentence of imprisonment. This page outlines what the offence involves and the likely penalties.
Legislation
The offence is set out in section 546 of the Crimes Act 1900.
The general offence
A person who impersonates a police officer is guilty of an offence. This is a summary offence and carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for two years, a fine of 100 penalty units, or both.
The aggravated offence
A person who, with intent to deceive, impersonates a police officer and purports to exercise a power or function as a police officer is guilty of an aggravated offence. This is punishable by a maximum penalty of imprisonment for seven years.
What does ‘impersonate’ mean?
The 2021 NSW District Court decision of Travor Cottle v DPP considered what the word ‘impersonate’ means for the purpose of this offence. In that case, the accused argued that impersonating a police officer is different to pretending to be a police officer, and that to be found guilty of the offence a person would have to engage in police activity.
The Crown argued the offence was made out merely by representing oneself as a police officer.
The word ‘impersonate’ is not defined in the legislation, but the Macquarie Dictionary defines it as meaning, ‘to assume the character or appearance of, especially for fraudulent purposes; pretend to be; to represent in personal or bodily form; personify; typify; to act (a part), especially on the stage.’
The court noted that the Minister’s second reading speech, when introducing the offence, included these comments:
The impersonation of a police officer has the potential to have very serious consequences.
Many people when faced with a person who is wearing a police uniform, or claiming to be a police officer, would feel obliged to comply with any requests or instructions given by that person provided that they seemed reasonable. This could have serious consequences.
I am deeply concerned that persons impersonating police officers for criminal purposes can do considerable harm, both as a direct consequence of their criminal activity, and as a result of the loss of trust and the decline in co-operation by members of the community with the police if they are uncertain that they are dealing with authentic police officers.
The court also noted the existence of the aggravated offence, which is committed when a person commits the offence with the intent to exercise a power of function of a police officer. The aggravated offence would be redundant if the general offence required the exercise of a police function.
Accordingly, the court found that the offence can be made out by a person claiming to be or representing themselves to be a police officer. Whether particular words and conduct amount to impersonation in a given case must be decided based on the context and all the circumstances.
Likely penalty
If a person is found guilty of impersonating a police officer in New South Wales, they may be sentenced to imprisonment, a fine or a community corrections order, or they may be conditionally released with no conviction.
According to the Judicial Commission of New South Wales, the most common penalty imposed for this offence was a community corrections order (handed down in 42.4% of cases).
If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Go To Court Lawyers.
Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Latrobe University), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law), a Bachelor of Arts (The University of Melbourne) and a Master of Arts (Deakin University). Fernanda practised law for eight years, working in criminal law, child protection and domestic violence law in the Northern Territory, and in family law in Queensland.