Criminal Justice (Public Safety)

This bill creates a new criminal offense for impersonating a first responder (including police, firefighters, or emergency medical personnel) to commit another crime. It directly affects individuals who falsely claim to be first responders to facilitate illegal acts, such as exploiting emergencies like wildfires. The penalty for this offense is one degree higher than the underlying crime (e.g., a fourth-degree crime if the underlying act was a disorderly persons offense), except when the underlying crime is first-degree. The law aims to deter exploitation of crisis situations where public trust in responders is critical.