Is a person who works for a police agency allowed to call herself a police officer?

Question

I know this older woman who works for the the Broward County Florida Sheriff's Office and is not an officer. She wears a uniform that says "Broward Sheriff Office" on in.

I have seen her tell people tell her that she is a Sheriff's Deputy many times. In fact, she tries to "play cop". Can she get in any trouble?

Answer 1

She is misrepresenting her position and is basically committing the crime of impersonating an officer.  She should be arrested.

Answer 2

I'm gonna answer just for the points, because everyone else was correct. Only sworn law enforcement officers/deputies, etc., may identify themselves as such. Anyone else who does this is impersonating a LEO.

Answer 3

she very well could be a deputy if she wears a uniform and have a concealed weapon.

Answer 4

As the others have answered - its called impersonating a police officer.  Only a sworn officer is a "Police Officer".

There are positions that allow non-sworn personnel to wear department uniforms without weapons or the authority (and responsibilities) of an Officer.

Answer 5

In order to claim yourself as an officer of the peace you have to be sworn in and that is called a 'sworn position'.

Yes she can get in serious trouble. And should. If she wants to be a peace officer she needs to go through all the things peace officers do, they work hard, have a lot of testing to go through, and she wants the 'glory' without the hard work.

Answer 6

It's a felony to impersonate law enforcement in Florida.

If you feel it's gone over the line, you can make a complaint to the Internal Affairs department. It's on their website.  

Answer 7

I've had to fire more than one civilian employee over my 30+ years for committing the same violation.

We had a dispatcher who wore his uniform every day, including days off, in an attempt to get 'free food'...

Our department had a policy against that anyway, but he demanded free food from one business, who called me and I went to the scene and terminated the employee.

So, in answer to your question, no.

Unless one is a certified officer in a commissioned position, he or she cannot identify themselves as a peace officer.