It is a criminal offense to make a false police report of a crime—knowingly and with the intent to deceive—if the statement is material to a criminal investigation and is made to (1) a peace officer or federal special investigator conducting the investigation; (2) any employee of a law enforcement agency that is authorized by the agency to conduct the investigation and that the person making the statement knows is conducting the investigation; or (3) a corrections officer or jailer.

The crime of making a false police report may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or as a felony, depending on the state, and is punishable in many states by jail time, fines, community service, and probation. The definitions and punishments for the crime of making a false police report vary from state to state and are usually located in a state’s statutes.

In Connecticut, making a false police report is considered a criminal offense under Connecticut General Statutes Section 53a-180. The law states that a person is guilty of falsely reporting an incident when they report an incident that they know is false or baseless to a law enforcement officer or agency with the intent to mislead or interfere with the operation of a law enforcement agency or to prompt an emergency response. The offense is typically classified as a misdemeanor, but the classification can escalate to a felony if the false report causes serious inconvenience or alarm, or if it is not the individual's first offense. Penalties for making a false police report in Connecticut can include imprisonment, fines, and probation, depending on the severity of the offense and the circumstances surrounding the false report.