3 ms·
Oregon law seems straightforward: ORS 162.367: (1) A person commits the crime of criminal impersonation of a peace officer if the person, with the intent to o
by cameldrv 6y ago
Oregon law seems straightforward:
ORS 162.367:
(1) A person commits the crime of criminal impersonation of a peace officer if the person, with the intent to obtain a benefit or to injure or defraud another person, uses false law enforcement identification or wears a law enforcement uniform to give the impression that the person is a peace officer and does an act in that assumed character.
(2) Criminal impersonation of a peace officer is a Class C felony.
...
(3) As used in this section:
...
Law enforcement uniform” means clothing bearing words such as “police,” “sheriff,” “state trooper” or “law enforcement,” or clothing that is an official uniform or substantially similar to an official uniform of a law enforcement unit that would make it reasonably likely that a person would believe that the wearer is a peace officer. [1993 c.243 §2; 2005 c.259 §1]
ORS 133.005:
(3) “Peace officer” means:
(a) A member of the Oregon State Police;
(b) A sheriff, constable, marshal, municipal police officer or reserve officer or a police officer commissioned by a university under ORS 352.121 (University police departments and officers) or 353.125 (Creation of police department and commission of police officers);
(c) An investigator of a district attorney’s office if the investigator is or has been certified as a peace officer in this or any other state;
(d) An investigator of the Criminal Justice Division of the Department of Justice of the State of Oregon;
(e) A humane special agent as defined in ORS 181A.345 (Humane special agents to enforce animal welfare laws under direction of law enforcement agency);
(f) A regulatory specialist exercising authority described in ORS 471.775 (Service of subpoenas) (2);
(g) An authorized tribal police officer as defined in ORS 181A.680 (Definitions for ORS 181A.680 to 181A.692); or
(h) A judicial marshal appointed under ORS 1.177 (State plan for security, emergency preparedness and business continuity for court facilities) who is trained pursuant to ORS 181A.540 (Certification of judicial marshals).
There is a separate definition of "Federal Officer." A Federal Officer is not allowed to wear clothing bearing the word "Police", because they are not a police officer.
Impersonating a police officer is a class C felony, carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
- pandaman 6y agoIANAL so I don't quite understand why would be a state law (Oregon in this case) applicable to federal agents executing the federal law. Seeing that internet is full of pictures of federal agents with "police" insignia (usually together with the agency name, but not always) it appears that the federal law allows this type of identification and, because of the Supremacy Clause, the state law has no effect. Am I missing something here?
- cosmiccatnap 6y agoA federal agent on state soil can still be arrested by that state for breaking it's laws, that's why states legalizing weed was a big deal because technically they would have to arrest a federal officer trying to come in and enforce the federal law against it to defend the states rights