Under Nevada Revised Statute § 199.430, impersonating a public officer such as a peace officer, soldier, or judge is a gross misdemeanor. The criminal sentence includes up to 364 days in county jail and/or up to $2,000 in fines.

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys discuss these topics:

• 1. “Public Officer Impersonation” Defined
• 2. Defenses
• 3. Penalties
• Additional Reading

1. “Public Officer Impersonation” Defined

The legal definition of the Nevada crime of “impersonation of an officer” is defrauding or injuring another by falsely holding yourself out as either a:

• public officer (civil or military), or
• police officer, or
• private individual having lawful authority to perform an act affecting the rights or interests of another.¹

You may be convicted of violating NRS 199.430 even if you do not physically wear the uniform or badge of the officer being impersonated.

Example: David is angry at his neighbor in Henderson for not paying back a loan. So David calls his neighbor and claims to be a cop, and he warns the neighbor that he will be arrested if he does not pay up. Frightened of being arrested, the neighbor pays David. If David is caught, he could be charged with impersonating an officer in order to defraud the neighbor.

Note that dressing up as an officer is not in itself a criminal act unless you mean to defraud or injure another person.

Example: Henry dresses up as a cop for a costume party in North Las Vegas. After the party, he walks home in his costume. Anyone passing him on the street assumes he is a cop. Then actual North Las Vegas policemen see him and book him at the North Las Vegas Detention Center for impersonating a police officer.

Henry should not be convicted of officer impersonation because he did not use his costume to defraud or injure anybody else. The fact that passersby may have presumed he was an actual police officer is irrelevant to the charges.

Learn more about false impersonation laws.

NRS 199.430 makes it a crime to impersonate a police officer.

2. Defenses

Here at Las Vegas Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with fraud crimes, including false impersonation of a police officer. In our experience, the following three defenses have proven very effective with judges, juries, and prosecutors at getting these charges reduced or dismissed.

• There is a lack of incriminating evidence: In order for you to be found guilty of officer impersonation, the court has to find that the prosecution proved your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore we try to show the court the prosecution’s evidence is too unreliable and insufficient to sustain a conviction. If we can poke enough holes in the prosecution’s case, then the charges may be dropped.
• You were falsely accused: Perhaps you may have been falsely accused of officer impersonation by someone out of revenge, anger, or an innocent misunderstanding. If we can impeach your accuser’s credibility and show the D.A. they had a motivation to lie, your case should be dismissed.
• The police committed misconduct: Police sometimes violate the U.S. Constitution during criminal investigations by performing an illegal search, seizure or arrest. In such cases, we would file a motion to suppress evidence that requests that the court disregard all evidence discovered from the police’s unlawful actions. If the motion is successful, the prosecution may choose to dismiss the entire officer impersonation case out of lack of proof.

3. Penalties

Impersonation of an officer is prosecuted as a gross misdemeanor in Nevada. The punishment includes a sentence of:

• up to 364 days in jail, and/or
• up to $2,000 in fines.

The judge may also order victim restitution to compensate anyone who sustained damages from the false impersonation.²

Additional Reading

For recent Nevada cases involving officer impersonation, refer to the following news articles:

• Stephanie Overton, Las Vegas man accused of shooting wife’s boyfriend in the head while impersonating police officer in attempt to ‘scare’ him: police – CBS News 8-KLAS (July 11, 2023).
• Nevada State Police warn of phone scammer impersonating law enforcement, 2 News Nevada KTNV (April 15, 2023).
• Woman arrested after impersonating police officer to steal money – NBC News 3-KSNV ( August 4th 2022).
• Dana Gentry, Man falsely jailed for impersonating cop, assaulting prostitutes, sues DA, Metro, Nevada Current (August 11, 2020)
• Nevada Highway Patrol arrests police chaplain for impersonating officer, NBC News 3-KSNV (May 14, 2019).

Also see our article on how to make a citizen’s arrest (NRS 171.126), fake ID laws.

Legal References