Teen police impersonator avoids jail

A former boy scout who posed as a policeman to enter some of the most secure buildings in Western Australia will avoid jail.

With the help of a friend who was working as an auxiliary police officer, 18-year-old Chris Bergroth donned a stolen uniform and managed to stroll into Perth's main criminal lock-up six times.

He also entered WA police headquarters and twice managed to get into a specialist crime unit building over seven weeks earlier this year.

He accessed confidential information on computers and even assisted at a traffic crash before being detected.

Bergroth also used police fuel cards to fill up his personal vehicle and avoided a speeding fine when he was caught driving 16kmh over the limit by saying he worked for the Tactical Response Group and was rushing to a job.

Bergroth, who had previously done work experience with the police force, pleaded guilty last month to 38 charges including wilfully misleading police and trespass.

In Perth Magistrates Court today he was ordered to perform 100 hours of community work and fined $2000 plus costs.

The magistrate and prosecution accepted defence lawyer Michael Clarke's argument that Bergroth was living out his childhood dream of becoming a policeman and had been a benign, non-malicious threat to the force, even though he had eroded public confidence in it.

Bergroth was "crushed" that his offences meant he would never be a policeman and now planned a career in the defence force, Mr Clarke told reporters outside court.

He said Bergroth had created a "slippery slope" in a situation that got out of hand.

"It starts with one thing and leads to another, and downwards from there," he said.

The auxiliary officer, one of Bergroth's scout friends, was not charged and has since quit the force.

Mr Clarke said Bergroth had done the force a favour by showing up deficiencies in its security.

"It wasn't done by someone associated with organised crime or a terrorist organisation - it was done by a boy scout who genuinely wanted to help and serve the community."