According to 18 U.S. Code § 912 – Officer or employee of the United States, “Whoever falsely assumes or pretends to be an officer or employee acting under the authority of the United States or any department, agency or officer thereof, and acts as such, or in such pretended character demands or obtains any money, paper, document, or thing of value, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
Police impersonation is what happens when someone attempts to impersonate a cop. This may be done through:
Dressing like a police officer, such as in a police uniform;
Using flashing lights on your vehicle, more specifically red and blue flashing lights, as many states also consider it to be a crime to use equipment that is used by law enforcement officers;
Using a counterfeit or stolen badge;
Flashing a fake police badge; or
Simply leading somebody to believe that you are an officer of the law.
