Authorities say police impersonators have been fooling police, firefighters and the public since 2015 in the Flint area.
The Flint Journal reports members of the group calling itself the "Genesee County Fire and EMS Media-Genesee County Task Force Blight Agency" were acting as police at parks, house fires, vehicle crashes and crime scenes.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton authorized charges against three people this week that include unlawful imprisonment.
In one case, the impersonators allegedly handcuffed two people.
Court records say there are at least five other potential co-defendants.
Leyton says they sometimes were the first to arrive at crime scenes and "the real police would ask them to perform tasks."
An investigation started after a complaint about rude Genesee County park rangers who turned out to be police impostors.