The members of the Masonic Fraternal Police Department – one an aide to state attorney general Kamala Harris – face charges of impersonating the police

Three people in California, including an aide to the state attorney general, Kamala Harris, have been arrested for impersonating the police after an ill-fated networking attempt with actual police departments in southern California.

The trio were arrested last week after claiming affiliation with the Masonic Fraternal Police Department, a group that says it is tied to the Knights Templar and claims to have existed for more than 3,000 years. The force claims jurisdiction in 33 states and Mexico, but its efforts to work with southern California police led the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department to investigate its members.

One of those arrested, Brandon Kiel, is on administrative leave from his role as deputy director of community affairs at the California department of justice, an office spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times. Alongside the police impersonation charge, Kiel is accused of misusing his government identification.

David Henry and Tonette Hayes were also arrested on impersonation charges last week, but all three were released later that day. Henry is also accused of committing perjury under oath.

The Masonic Fraternal Police Department had sent letters to police chiefs in southern California that said a new leader of the group had been appointed, according to the sheriff’s department. The letter was followed by calls from a person who identified himself as “chief deputy director Brandon Kiel”, and he attempted to set up meetings with law enforcement agencies.

Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s captain Roosevelt Johnson met with members of the group “and became wary after they could not provide rudimentary information about the group’s aims”, according to the LA Times.

Investigators then found law enforcement paraphernalia including badges, weapons and uniforms in two Santa Clarita locations. Law enforcement officials are looking for other people associated with the group.

“I always see them with their uniforms, so I thought they were part of any department; I didn’t know it was a fake one,” Henry’s neighbor, Sherry Elgabalawy, told CBS Los Angeles.

A website connected to the group says that the Masonic Fraternal Organization “is the oldest and most respected organization in the ‘World’” and assures that the group does not “condone terrorist activity, sovereign citizens or clandestine!”.

Most of the website is password-protected, including sections titled “Clandestine list”, “All 33 states”, and “Police reports”. The “Contact us” section identifies an address in Beverly Hills as a location for the department.

The Masons of California confirmed that they are not affiliated with the group in an email to the Guardian.

Meanwhile, in New York City, a former member of the gang Latin Kings turned Hasidic Jew, Avroham Gross, was sentenced to at least two and a half years in prison for impersonating a police officer. Under the guise of a New York police department officer, he forged parking permits and obtained a discounted meal at the IHOP restaurant chain.