DELAWARE - The Delaware House of Representatives voted to pass legislation to clarify and expand the offense of criminal impersonation in the state.
This legislation comes after the attack and death of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hartman and her husband as well as the attempted attack on Minnesota State Sen. Josh Hoffman and his wife by a private citizen impersonating a police officer.
House Bill 152, sponsored by Rep. Mara Gorman and Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth Lockman, would expand the criminal offense of impersonating law enforcement officials to also include impersonating a federal officer.
“We have seen far too many incidents across the country where bad actors exploit the appearance of authority to gain trust, to deceive, to intimidate, or worse,” Gorman stated.
The bill also expands the Delaware Code's definition of "law-enforcement officials" to include police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, fire police or federal officers. "Federal officer" is also defined as an officer or agent of the federal government who has the power to make arrests under federal law in the bill.
“Protecting the public from those who would abuse positions of trust is fundamental to maintaining the sanctity of our law enforcement and keeping our communities safe,” Lockman stated.
According to the current Delaware Code a person found guilty of impersonating a law-enforcement officer can be charged with a Class C felony, which is a serious offense with a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, or a Class E felony, which is a serious crime with a maximum prison sentence of five years.
An additional amendment to the bill, which was also passed, would increase the Class E felony charge to a Class D felony charge, which applies to both violent and non-violent crimes and faces a maximum prison sentence of eight years.
The bill and amendment have passed in the Delaware House of Representatives and has moved onto to the Delaware Senate as of June 24.