Penal Code section 463.2
(a)
In sentencing a person convicted of a violation of Section 463, the court may consider the fact, if pled and proven, that the defendant committed the crime while impersonating emergency personnel as a factor in aggravation in sentencing.(b)
For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:(1)
“Emergency personnel” means a peace officer, an officer or member of a fire department or a deputy state fire marshal, an employee of a public utility or district, state, county, city, or special district, a city and county officer or employee, an officer or member of a governmental agency-managed or -affiliated search and rescue unit or team, an officer or member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the California National Guard, the State Guard, the Naval Militia, the national guard of any other state, or any other reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States, or an emergency medical technician, as defined in Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 1797) of the Health and Safety Code.(2)
“Impersonating” means willfully wearing, exhibiting, or using of an authorized uniform, insignia, emblem, device, label, certificate, card, or writing of emergency personnel with the intent of fraudulently inducing the belief that they are emergency personnel.
Source:
Section 463.2, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=463.2. (updated Jan. 1, 2026; accessed Dec. 15, 2025).
