This didn't occur on my commute, but this seems like the best place for it since commuters deal with a fair share of this nonsense.

I was riding along the main road in a county park near my home, and noticed a truck following behind me, but not making an attempt to overtake. That's not very unusual, though most motorists ignore the park's 15mph speed limit, and I was probably right at the limit. As I got to the stop at the park's exit, the driver took the left turn lane, and pulled along side to shout at me.

Driver: It's illegal to ride on the road, you should be on the sidewalk!
Me: No, that's not what the law says, I'm very familiar with it.

Driver: That's the law, and I'm with the Broward Sheriff's Office, and I should write you a ticket!

At this point, it's pretty clear that she's not a police officer, and hasn't exactly claimed to be either, so I press on.

Me: You're with the BSO, and you're unclear about the law, that's scary.
Driver: Next time, you'll get a ticket!

Me: So you're "with" the BSO, and you write tickets, are you identifying yourself as a police officer? I'm pretty sure there's a law against impersonating a police officer.
Driver: Have a nice day.

She pulled away before I could get my phone out for a photo of her license plate, and I was too busy laughing anyway. During the exchange, the passenger that she was shouting across looked mortified but said nothing, probably her daughter. Her truck was pulling a horse trailer, so it wouldn't be a stretch to suppose that she's involved with the BSO's mounted unit, maybe manages the stables or something like that.

Good lesson for her daughter about lying, but I'm sure it wasn't the first time mom - uh the officer - embarrassed her.

Good responses though!

every department has wannabe-hangers-on. i've seen folks actually rig their car with lights or try to stop bar fights because they "worked for" an agency.

that said, i never had to do traffic duty, but i know plenty who did that wouldn't know off hand the laws on cycling. not that the locals here care about bikes one way or the other.

True, many real officers can't quote the tiny bit of motor vehicle code that pertains to cyclists. I had a pretty good hunch from the way she said she was "with" them, that she was being evasive for a good reason. I've heard similar lines from people who are tangentially involved with the police, but know enough not to directly claim that they're an officer.

I did have one motorist (for nearly the exact same reason) tell me directly that she was a police officer, and she was wearing hospital scrubs. I started grinning immediately, and before I could ask "hospital police?," she said (corrected?) that her husband was a cop, then went into a rant that made it clear she was unhinged and really agitated.

The scary thing is, I think she actually did work in the healthcare field.

I got hassled by a guy who said he was a cop one day, he got mad because I took the lane to keep him from violating the 3 feet to pass law (and the speed limit too). I figured it wasn't worth it before I saw the pistol in the holster on his belt (he was out out uniform, and wasn't in a cop car), and was glad when he showed his respect for the laws he's supposedly paid to uphold when he made an illegal turn to take off when he was done with his end of the conversation.

She must have seen your avatar on BF and recognized the composite rendering by the Police Department sketch artist, at which point she knew you were doing something wrong. :-)

Don't rely on the real police to actually know the law, either. I get a fair number of cases that cross my desk that I can manage to get dismissed straight away, because the police arrested someone for doing something that is not actually against the law. I'm not cop-bashing here; that's just how it is. Every department has its own idiots, and the other cops in the department know who they are. Carrying a Code book with you wouldn't even help, because the idiots can read the law a thousand times and still not understand it.

"Actually, it's not. What is illegal, however, is impersonating a peace officer." Then pull out your phone and take a photo of her and her license plate. (Even if you don't actually have a camera in your phone, just mime it.)

Could have asked her, "do you need to strip search me?" and then start taking off your clothes. At least you'd know right away if she was a real cop or not.

Followed by dialing the police stations non-emergency number.

Jim