qaz393

flasher are probably just traffic infraction. impersonating an officer is probably a felony? ie having police stickers on your car. however you can legally pose as a foreign cop and have police in another language written on ur car

dcjwlee

acr2001

You're so far off base that it's astounding! If you have red and blue lights and you use them on a public road, you are impersonating a police officer. It is a felony. Someone here (NYC) was recently arrested for this very thing.

If I see a Mercedes here with red and blue lights attempting to move me out of the way, I'm calling the cops and reporting you because everyone here knows the difference between an unmarked police car and a Mercedes. The fact that this is even up for debate is just crazy.

Here is a ridiculous example of how easily you can get in trouble: http://www.wpxi.com/news/27241202/detail.html obviously this particular story is very silly.

Here is a more serious example: http://www.shelbystar.com/articles/p...t-accused.html

"New York City police arrest about 100 suspects annually on charges of impersonating an officer. The NYPD has a specialized unit, believed to be the only one in the country, dedicated to solving cases where a suspect impersonates an officer." - USA Today

There are tons of news article about these immature lowlives going to jail for flashing red & blue lights at other drivers.
Anyone able to find the actual penalty for impersonating a cop in NYC? I promise there is prison time involved.

safesphere

Perhaps flashing lights in NY is not a good idea if you have the only unit in the country watching specifically for that.

Elsewhere it depends on the state, but even where it is a felony, it is so only when impersonating was to conduct a crime. Also flashing lights on your iPhone or flashlight hardly qualifies as using a police equipment. I agree you could be arrested by a territorial policeman with an insecure ego and get into enough trouble and expense, but a good lawyer would easily throw away any flashlight related charges and no judge would give you a prison time for using an iPhone. You could have thought you were having a heart attack and flashed for help. Or your brakes were failing at the moment and you could not stop and flashed to warn others. There is no proof to the contrary they can present. In your link the guy actually followed and harassed the other guy, this is completely different.

If you report me, there is nothing they can do after the fact. They cannot arrest me based on my license plate, because you thought something blinked in your eyes. They would have to actually see me flashing the lights. And just having an iPhone or a flashlight in the car is not illegal.

But you are right, perhaps this is not a good idea.

safesphere

I know, the police can only afford BMW