Making a false report of a crime to a police officer is a criminal offense in Massachusetts. If you are found guilty a judge may sentence you to up to one year in jail, or order you to pay a fine of no more than $500, or both.
What You Need to Know
Providing police officers with inaccurate information about an alleged crime is not a criminal offense unless you reported the crime on purpose and you knew that the reported information was false.
The prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you intentionally and knowingly made a false report to the police. In other words, the government must show that:
- you reported a crime to a police officer or caused someone else to make the report;
- the report was false;
- you intentionally made a false report and it was not made by accident or through negligence, and
- you knew that the report was false.
The Statute
Massachusetts General Law Chapter 269, Section 13A states: Whoever intentionally and knowingly makes or causes to be made a false report of a crime to police officers shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than one year, or both.
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