Also known as: policing · policed · polices · law enforcement · police power
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A governmental department charged with the preservation of public order, the promotion of public safety, and the prevention and detection of crime.
An officer or member of such a department.
A governmental department charged with the preservation of public order, the promotion of public safety, and the prevention and detection of crime.
Pablo Perez agreed to help two others rob a store but later decided against participating. Before the robbery occurred Perez contacted the police department and provided the planned time and location. Officers used the information to prevent the crime. Perez avoided liability for the completed offense.
An officer or member of such a department.
Preston Pratt, a police officer, met with a licensed social worker for counseling after a fatal shooting incident. During the session Pratt disclosed details of the event to aid his recovery. A later subpoena sought those statements for use in civil litigation. The communications remained protected from disclosure.
Officers from the municipal police department knocked on Portia Price's door while investigating drug activity. They heard sounds consistent with destruction of evidence inside. Believing the evidence would be lost imminently, the officers entered without a warrant. The entry was upheld as lawful.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A police detective posed as a buyer and repeatedly urged Peter Park to sell controlled substances. The detective used persistent persuasion that created a substantial risk an otherwise law-abiding person would commit the offense. Park was later charged with distribution. The court considered whether the detective's conduct constituted entrapment.
State police officers conducted a search of Phuong Pham's residence without a warrant or consent. The search yielded incriminating documents later offered at trial. The trial court excluded the evidence because the officers violated the Fourth Amendment. The exclusion deterred future misconduct by the department.
Police officers arrived at Priscilla Parks's residence to arrest her for a nonviolent offense. They lacked an arrest warrant and had no reason to believe exigent circumstances existed. The officers entered the home without consent when they had no basis to think Parks was inside. The entry violated the warrant requirement.
Yes. Federal common law recognizes the privilege for confidential communications made in the course of diagnosis or treatment, including counseling sessions between a police officer and a licensed social worker after a shooting incident.
Police may enter without a warrant when they reasonably believe evidence is being destroyed and the exigency was not created by an actual or threatened Fourth Amendment violation, even if the exigency arises after officers knock and announce.
The exclusionary rule prohibits use of the evidence in state criminal proceedings under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, just as it applies in federal court, to deter police misconduct.
Absent exigent circumstances, police must obtain an arrest warrant for a nonemergency entry into a suspect's own home to effect an arrest and may enter only when there is reason to believe the suspect is inside.
…the City of Montgomery, Alabama. He testified that he was "Commissioner of Public Affairs and the duties are supervision of the Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Cemetery and Department of Scales." He brought this civil libel action against the four individual petitioners, who are Negroes and Alabama…