The trend of using AI and face-swapping applications to create realistic photographs in police and other official uniforms may seem like harmless fun. However, the SAPS warns that these images can easily be mistaken for real photographs and may have serious consequences if they are used to mislead or deceive others.

The public is reminded that impersonating a police official is a criminal offence. Section 68 of the South African Police Service Act 68 of 1995 prohibits people from falsely presenting themselves as members of the SAPS or creating the impression that they are connected to the Service. Section 66 also regulates the unauthorised use of SAPS uniforms, badges and insignia, says police spokesperson Captain Loraine Earle.

The SAPS emblem and badge are also legally protected. The official SAPS badge was registered with the Bureau of Heraldry on October 31, 1995 and may not simply be copied, altered or used without the required permission. This includes using the SAPS emblem or badge on personal social-media profiles or in other forms of personal representation.

SAPS members themselves are also not free to use the uniform and insignia as they please on social media. National Instruction 5 of 2017 regulates how members may use social media and restricts the use of photographs of members in uniform and SAPS insignia on private social-media accounts without the required authorisation.

Earle says the police is also concerned about AI-generated photographs showing people being arrested. Such images can falsely suggest that a person has been arrested or involved in criminal activity when this never happened, and could be used to mislead, embarrass or harm someone.

SAPS stresses that simply creating an AI image does not automatically mean that a person has committed a crime. However, how the image is used, what it is intended to portray, and whether it is used to deceive or impersonate a police official will be important.

“We understand that people use AI for entertainment and to follow social-media trends. However, when police uniforms, insignia or supposed arrests are involved, people need to be responsible. The SAPS uniform represents authority and public trust and should not be used as a costume or to create a false identity,” said the Provincial Commissioner of the Police, Lieutenant General Thabang Lesia.

The message is simple: Think before you post. What looks like harmless fun today could have serious consequences tomorrow.