SENATE BILL No. 264
Introduced by Senators Valladares and Pérez
(Coauthors: Senators Allen, Alvarado-Gil, Choi, Dahle, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, Seyarto, and Stern) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alanis, Chen, Davies, Hadwick, Sanchez, and Wallis)
February 3, 2025
An act to amend Sections 538d and 538e of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 264, as introduced, Valladares. Impersonation of a peace officer or firefighter during a state of emergency or local emergency.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency, as defined, under specified circumstances. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate a peace officer or an officer or member of a fire department or the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
This bill would make impersonating a peace officer or an officer or member of a fire department or the Office of the State Fire Marshal during a state of emergency or local emergency punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felon y, as specified. By increasing the punishment of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimb urse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
99 The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 538d of the Penal Code is amended to line 2 read:
line 3 538d. (a) Any person other than one who by law is given the line 4 authority of a peace officer, who willfully wears, exhibits, or uses line 5 the authorized uniform, insignia, emblem, device, label, certificate, line 6 card, or writing, of a peace officer, with the intent of fraudulently line 7 impersonating a peace officer , or of fraudulently inducing the line 8 belief that they are a peace officer, or who willfully and credibly line 9 impersonates a peace officer through or on an internet website, or line 10 by other electronic means, for purposes of defrauding another, is line 11 guilty of a misdemeanor.
line 12 (b) (1) Any person, other than the one who by law is given the line 13 authority of a peace officer, who willfully wears, exhibits, or uses line 14 the badge of a peace officer with the intent of fraudulently line 15 impersonating a peace officer , or of fraudulently inducing the line 16 belief that the y are a peace officer , is guilty of a misdemeanor line 17 punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to e xceed one line 18 year, by a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by line 19 both that imprisonment and fine.
line 20 (2) Any person who willfully wears or uses an y badge that line 21 falsely purports to be authorized for the use of one who by law is line 22 given the authority of a peace officer , or which so resembles the line 23 authorized badge of a peace officer as would deceive any ordinary line 24 reasonable person into belie ving that it is authorized for the use line 25 of one who by law is given the authority of a peace officer, for the line 26 purpose of fraudulently impersonating a peace officer , or of line 27 fraudulently inducing the belief that the y are a peace officer , is line 28 guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county line 29 jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to e xceed two thousand line 30 dollars ($2,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. line 31 (c) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d), (e), any person line 32 who willfully wears, e xhibits, or uses, or who willfully mak es, line 33 sells, loans, gi ves, or transfers to another , an y badge, insignia, line 34 emblem, device, or any label, certificate, card, or writing, which line 35 falsely purports to be authorized for the use of one who by law is line 36 given the authority of a peace officer , or which so resembles the line 37 authorized badge, insignia, emblem, device, label, certificate, card, line 38 or writing of a peace officer as w ould decei ve an ordinary 99 — 2 — SB 264
line 1 reasonable person into belie ving that it is authorized for the use line 2 of one who by law is given the authority of a peace officer, is guilty line 3 of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not line 4 to exceed six months, by a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars line 5 ($2,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine, e xcept that any line 6 person who mak es or sells an y badge under the circumstances line 7 described in this subdi vision is subject to a fine not to e xceed line 8 fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
line 9 (2) A local law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction that files line 10 charges against a person for a violation of paragraph (1) shall seize line 11 the badge, insignia, emblem, de vice, label, certificate, card, or line 12 writing described in paragraph (1).
line 13 (d) Any person convicted of violating subdivision (a), (b), or line 14 (c) during a state of emergency or local emergency, as defined in line 15 Section 463, shall be punished either by imprisonment in a county line 16 jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to e xceed two thousand line 17 dollars ($2,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine , or by line 18 imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 and by line 19 a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000). line 20 (d)
line 21 (e) (1) The head of an agency that employs peace officers, as line 22 defined in Sections 830.1 and 830.2, is authorized to issue line 23 identification in the form of a badge, insignia, emblem, de vice, line 24 label, certificate, card, or writing that clearly states that the person line 25 has honorably retired follo wing service as a peace officer from line 26 that agenc y. The identification authorized pursuant to this line 27 subdivision is separate and distinct from the identification line 28 authorized by Article 2 (commencing with Section 25450) of line 29 Chapter 2 of Division 5 of Title 4 of Part 6.
line 30 (2) If the head of an agenc y issues a badge to an honorably line 31 retired peace officer that is not affix ed to a plaque or other line 32 memento commemorating the retiree’s service for the agency, the line 33 words “Honorably Retired” shall be clearly visible abo ve, line 34 underneath, or on the badge itself.
line 35 (3) The head of an agency that employs peace officers as defined line 36 in Sections 830.1 and 830.2 is authorized to revoke identification line 37 granted pursuant to this subdivision in the event of misuse or abuse. line 38 (4) For the purposes of this subdi vision, the term “honorably line 39 retired” does not include an officer who has agreed to a service line 40 retirement in lieu of termination.
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line 1 (e)
line 2 (f) (1) Vendors of law enforcement uniforms shall v erify that line 3 a person purchasing a uniform identifying a la w enforcement line 4 agency is an emplo yee of the agenc y identified on the uniform. line 5 Presentation and examination of a valid identification card with a line 6 picture of the person purchasing the uniform and identification, line 7 on the letterhead of the la w enforcement agenc y, of the person line 8 buying the uniform as an employee of the agency identified on the line 9 uniform shall be sufficient verification.
line 10 (2) Any uniform vendor who sells a uniform identifying a law line 11 enforcement agency, without v erifying that the purchaser is an line 12 employee of the agenc y, is guilty of a misdemeanor , punishable line 13 by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). line 14 (3) This subdivision shall not apply if the uniform is to be used line 15 solely as a prop for a motion picture, television, video production, line 16 or a theatrical event, and prior written permission has been obtained line 17 from the identified law enforcement agency.
line 18 SEC. 2. Section 538e of the Penal Code is amended to read:
line 19 538e. (a) Any person, other than an officer or member of a line 20 fire department, who willfully wears, e xhibits, or uses the line 21 authorized uniform, insignia, emblem, de vice, label, certificate, line 22 card, or writing of an officer or member of a fire department or a line 23 deputy state fire marshal, with the intent of fraudulently line 24 impersonating an officer or member of a fire department or the line 25 Office of the State Fire Marshal, or of fraudulently inducing the line 26 belief that they are an officer or member of a fire department or line 27 the Office of the State Fire Marshal, or who willfully and credibly line 28 impersonates such an officer or member on an internet website, line 29 or by other electronic means, for purposes of defrauding another, line 30 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
line 31 (b) (1) Any person, other than the one who by law is given the line 32 authority of an officer or member of a fire department, or a deputy line 33 state fire marshal, who willfully wears, exhibits, or uses the badge line 34 of a fire department or the Office of the State Fire Marshal with line 35 the intent of fraudulently impersonating an officer, or member of line 36 a fire department, or a deputy state fire marshal, or of fraudulently line 37 inducing the belief that the y are an officer or member of a fire line 38 department, or a deputy state fire marshal, is guilty of a line 39 misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to 99 — 4 — SB 264
line 1 exceed one year , by a fine not to e xceed two thousand dollars line 2 ($2,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. line 3 (2) Any person who willfully wears or uses an y badge that line 4 falsely purports to be authorized for the use of one who by law is line 5 given the authority of an officer or member of a fire department, line 6 or a deputy state fire marshal, or which so resembles the authorized line 7 badge of an officer or member of a fire department, or a deputy line 8 state fire marshal as would deceive any ordinary reasonable person line 9 into believing that it is authorized for the use of one who by la w line 10 is given the authority of an officer or member of a fire department line 11 or a deputy state fire marshal, for the purpose of fraudulently line 12 impersonating an officer or member of a fire department, or a line 13 deputy state fire marshal, or of fraudulently inducing the belief line 14 that they are an officer or member of a fire department, or a deputy line 15 state fire marshal, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by line 16 imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not line 17 to e xceed tw o thousand dollars ($2,000), or by both that line 18 imprisonment and fine.
line 19 (c) Any person who willfully wears, e xhibits, or uses, or who line 20 willfully makes, sells, loans, gi ves, or transfers to another , any line 21 badge, insignia, emblem, device, or any label, certificate, card, or line 22 writing, which falsely purports to be authorized for the use of one line 23 who by law is given the authority of an officer , or member of a line 24 fire department or a deputy state fire marshal, or which so line 25 resembles the authorized badge, insignia, emblem, de vice, label, line 26 certificate, card, or writing of an officer or member of a fire line 27 department or a deputy state fire marshal as w ould deceive an line 28 ordinary reasonable person into believing that it is authorized for line 29 use by an officer or member of a fire department or a deputy state line 30 fire marshal, is guilty of a misdemeanor , except that any person line 31 who makes or sells any badge under the circumstances described line 32 in this subdivision is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine line 33 not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). line 34 (d) Any person who, for the purpose of selling, leasing or line 35 otherwise disposing of merchandise, supplies or equipment used line 36 in fire prevention or suppression, falsely represents, in any manner line 37 whatsoever, to any other person that the y are a fire marshal, fire line 38 inspector or member of a fire department, or that the y have the line 39 approval, endorsement or authorization of an y fire marshal, fire 99 SB 264 — 5 —
line 1 inspector or fire department, or member thereof, is guilty of a line 2 misdemeanor.
line 3 (e) Any person convicted of violating subdivision (a), (b), (c), line 4 or (d) during a state of emergency or local emergency, as defined line 5 in Section 463, shall be punished either by imprisonment in a line 6 county jail not to e xceed one year, by a fine not to e xceed two line 7 thousand dollars ($2,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine, line 8 or by imprisonment pur suant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 line 9 and by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000). line 10 (e)
line 11 (f) (1) Vendors of uniforms shall verify that a person purchasing line 12 a uniform identifying a firefighting agenc y or department is an line 13 employee or authorized member of the agenc y or department line 14 identified on the uniform. Examination of a v alid photo line 15 identification card issued by a firefighting agenc y or department line 16 that designates the person as an emplo yee or authorized member line 17 of the agenc y or department identified on the uniform shall be line 18 sufficient verification.
line 19 (2) If a person purchasing a uniform does not have a valid photo line 20 identification card issued by a firefighting agency or department, line 21 the person shall present an official letter of authorization from the line 22 firefighting agency or department designating that person as an line 23 employee or authorized member of the agency or department. The line 24 person shall also present a government issued photo identification line 25 card bearing the same name as listed in the letter of authorization line 26 issued by the agency or department.
line 27 (3) Any uniform v endor who sells a uniform identifying a line 28 firefighting agenc y or department without v erifying that the line 29 purchaser is an employee or authorized member of the agency or line 30 department is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not line 31 more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
line 32 (4) This subdivision shall not apply if the uniform is to be used line 33 solely as a prop for a motion picture, television, video production, line 34 or a theatrical event, and prior written permission has been obtained line 35 from the identified firefighting agency or department. line 36 (f)
line 37 (g) This section shall not apply to either of the following:
line 38 (1) Use of a badge solely as a prop for a motion picture, line 39 television, or video production, or an entertainment or theatrical line 40 event.
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line 1 (2) A badge supplied by a recognized emplo yee organization line 2 as defined in Section 3501 of the Government Code representing line 3 firefighters or a state or international or ganization to which it is line 4 affiliated.
line 5 SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 6 Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because line 7 the only costs that may be incurred by a local agenc y or school line 8 district will be incurred because this act creates a ne w crime or line 9 infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty line 10 for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of line 11 the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within line 12 the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California line 13 Constitution.
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