By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice.
Massachusetts quietly rewrote its police impersonation law at the end of 2025, and most published guides have not caught up. General Laws chapter 268, section 33 — the statute covering anyone who falsely assumes or pretends to be a sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, police officer, probation officer, or a long list of state investigators — was amended effective November 25, 2025 to raise the maximum penalty to a $1,000 fine or up to two and a half years of imprisonment, and to extend coverage to officers and employees acting under federal authority. Before the amendment, the ceiling had been a $400 fine or one year. Alongside that modern statute, Massachusetts still carries one of the oldest badge laws in America: a fifty-dollar fine for possessing a lookalike town officer’s badge.
The 2025 Amendment: What Changed in c.268 §33
| Before November 25, 2025 | After November 25, 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum fine | $400 | $1,000 |
| Maximum imprisonment | 1 year | 2½ years |
| Federal officers covered | Not listed | Expressly included — any officer or employee acting under United States authority |
| Conduct required | Falsely assuming the office and acting as such, or requiring another person’s aid in a matter pertaining to the office | |
The conduct element is worth underlining because it survived the amendment unchanged: Massachusetts punishes pretending plus acting. The statute reaches a person who acts in the pretended capacity or requires someone to assist them in a matter pertaining to the officer’s duty — not costumes, theater, or a badge sitting in a display case.
The Fifty-Dollar Statute: c.268 §35
Section 35 makes it punishable — by a fine of not more than fifty dollars — to cast, stamp, engrave, make, or possess a badge in the likeness of an official badge of a police officer, firefighter, or other town-appointed officer, with intent to assume an official character. The dollar figure alone dates the law; it has sat in the General Laws essentially unchanged while the impersonation statute around it modernized. Two details matter in practice. First, the intent element: possession must come with intent to assume an official character, which is why collections and memorials are outside it. Second, its scope: it is a town officer statute, covering municipal police and fire badges rather than state agency insignia — and it is one of the few state laws in the country that names fire department badges explicitly.
Who May Lawfully Wear and Order Badges in Massachusetts
As in most states, the statutes are aimed at false assumption of office, not at authorized production. Municipal departments order and issue their own badges as a routine procurement matter, and the town-badge statute’s intent element means an authorized order carries no exposure. Departments standardizing their issue — patrol, superior officer, and retirement versions — typically work from a single die so every badge matches; that is the normal pattern for municipal police badge programs in the Commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns. Because §35 covers fire badges in the same breath, fire departments fall under the same intent-based framework, and fire department badge and insignia orders follow the same authorized-issue logic.
How Massachusetts Compares to Its Neighbors
The 2025 amendment moved Massachusetts from one of the lighter impersonation penalties in New England to the middle of the pack, and the express inclusion of federal officers closes a gap that still exists in several states. Rhode Island’s framework, covered in our Rhode Island badge requirements guide, takes a different structural approach, while Maryland reaches further than either by restricting possession of state police articles outright — see the Maryland badge law guide for that contrast.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the penalty for impersonating a police officer in Massachusetts?
Since November 25, 2025: a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment up to two and a half years under G.L. c.268 §33. The prior maximums were $400 and one year.
Does Massachusetts law cover impersonating federal agents?
Yes, as of the 2025 amendment — the statute now expressly includes officers and employees acting under the authority of the United States or any federal department or agency.
Is it illegal to own a police badge in Massachusetts?
Ownership alone is not the offense. Section 35 requires intent to assume an official character, and section 33 requires acting in the pretended office. Collections, memorials, and commemorative pieces without that intent fall outside both.
What is the fifty-dollar badge law?
G.L. c.268 §35 — a statute fining up to $50 for making or possessing a lookalike badge of a town police officer, firefighter, or other town officer with intent to assume official character. It is among the oldest badge-specific laws still in force in the United States.
Are fire department badges regulated too?
Yes. Massachusetts is unusual in naming fire department badges in the same statute as police badges; the same intent-to-assume-office element applies.
Sources
Mass. General Laws c.268 §33 (as amended by St. 2025, c.73, §§56-57, effective November 25, 2025), via mass.gov and malegislature.gov; Mass. General Laws c.268 §35, via malegislature.gov. Statutes verified August 29, 2026.