Was Statement made during an Ongoing Emergency-in attempt to Resolve Emergency? Was Statement made after Emergency-in effort to prove Past Events for Criminal Prosecution? What was Defendant’s Purpose in Murdering the Witness? United States Supreme Court Provides Further Rules [’07-’08 [...]
Over the past decade the Unites States Supreme Court has decided three cases dealing with law enforcement checkpoints involving car stops by police officers without individualized suspicion to believe that the operator of the vehicle had done anything wrong. In [...]
The Fourth Amendment does not require the suppression of evidence obtained incident to an arrest that is based upon probable cause, where the arrest violates a provision of state law. On April 23rd the United States Supreme Court decided a [...]
An investigative tool which causes a great deal of discomfort for agency employees is the use of covert surveillance equipment. Investigators should consider the ramifications that may result from the use of covert video cameras before employing them. These ramifications [...]
Over the past fifteen years, the United States Supreme Court has shown an extreme degree of approval for “special needs” administrative searches for substance abuse.i At the outset it should be noted that these searches are done for administrative purposes [...]
Many police operations have the potential to create liability exposure for an agency; however certain types of operations have an exponential likelihood of creating claims. One area of high liability is the decision to use a SWAT team.i In considering [...]
The Need for Policy and Training Utilizing the Walker formula previously cited: Does the policy-maker and/or trainer know to a moral certainty that officers will face situations that may involve sexual harassment, discrimination or misconduct in the law enforcement profession? Would an [...]
The Second Brass Ring-Failure to Train Police agencies have an obligation to train its police officers for the recurring tasks that officers will face during their career. Where it is foreseeable that a police officer will face a particular task [...]
Policy v. Custom/Operational Policy Most police agencies around the United States have made great efforts in developing policies and procedures for their departments. The most important policies and procedures are those that impact “high risk/ critical tasks.” High risk/ critical [...]
Introduction A major problem that has plagued law enforcement over the last two decades is sexual misconduct. The long-standing men’s culture of law enforcement may have played a role in this pervasive problem. In order to address this issue, law [...]