Pennsylvania Senate Bill SB182

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/24/25
• Refer: 1/24/25

Caption

In falsification and intimidation, further providing for the offense of false reports to law enforcement authorities.

Summary

SB182 amends Pennsylvania’s criminal code section on false reports to law enforcement. The bill adds a new grading rule stating that if a false report is made solely because of the alleged perpetrator’s race or ethnicity, and not because of any actual suspicion that a crime occurred or might occur, the offense is graded as a first-degree misdemeanor. The measure is aimed at situations where a person makes a police report based only on racial or ethnic bias rather than a legitimate belief that criminal activity took place. The bill does not create a new offense; it changes how an existing offense is punished under Title 18, specifically in the falsification and intimidation chapter. By adding this aggravating circumstance to section 4906(c), it would make biased false reporting subject to a higher misdemeanor grade, which can carry more serious criminal penalties than lower-grade offenses. The act would take effect 60 days after enactment.

Impact

SB182 would amend 18 Pa.C.S. § 4906, the statute governing false reports to law enforcement authorities, by adding a new grading provision for reports motivated solely by race or ethnicity. This would affect prosecutors, courts, and individuals accused of making false police reports by elevating certain conduct to a first-degree misdemeanor. The change would be incorporated into Pennsylvania’s criminal law framework and would take effect 60 days after passage.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee discussion or votes in the provided materials, the measure appears to be framed as a targeted civil-rights and public-safety response to racially or ethnically motivated false reporting. The bill’s sponsors suggest concern about misuse of law enforcement resources and harm caused by biased reporting. No opposing arguments are documented in the supplied record, so the overall sentiment available here is supportive and corrective in tone.

Contention

The main point of contention inherent in the bill is the line between a false report made with discriminatory bias and one made in good-faith but mistaken belief. The bill specifically requires that the report be based solely on race or ethnicity and not on actual suspicion, which may raise evidentiary questions about intent and proof. Any debate would likely center on whether the new grading is necessary, how it would be enforced, and whether existing false-report statutes already cover the conduct adequately.