On October 23, 2019, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided Lowe v. State[i], in which the court discussed various exceptions to the warrant requirement that pertain to vehicles, and ultimately decided to reverse the trial court’s denial of a [...]

By Lou Reiter, LLRMI Co-Director and Director of the Public Safety Internal Affairs InstituteLou Reiter Are these just words or something more? “Professional or skilled journeyman.” “Warrior or Guardian of the Peace.” Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s [...]

On June 8, 2020 a bill was introduced in Congress to reform law enforcement practices. Among the items in the legislation is a provision to “ban police use of chokeholds and carotid holds, and conditions funding for state and local [...]

Over the last week, law enforcement has been faced with the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis which was captured on video and showed an officer putting pressure on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes, while Floyd [...]

Over the last few weeks law enforcement throughout the United States has been faced with controlling protests and even riots following the death of George Floyd during his arrest by the Minneapolis Police Department.  These events did not begin with [...]

In June of 2020, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, activist groups, state and federal law makers, and local mayors have sought to create a duty on the part of law enforcement officers to intervene when they observe [...]

On October 16, 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Jones v. Perez[i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to probable cause, false arrest, and the role of witness credibility in a probable cause determination.  [...]

On October 18, 2019, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Holly[i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to consensual encounters.  The facts of Holly, both the officer’s version of events and [...]

On October 16, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided Bailey v. Swindell et al.[i], in which the court examined whether a deputy violated the Fourth Amendment when he arrested a person inside his residence without a warrant.  The [...]

By Lou Reiter, LLRMI Co-Director and Director of the Public Safety Internal Affairs InstituteLou Reiter The Ferguson incident in 2014 focused renewed attention on local police practices.  As I have written and trained over the last several years, policing has [...]