# Police outside of their jurisdiction-limitations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602 "2003-04-18T17:55:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/1 "2003-04-18T17:55:32Z")
On the freeway today, I passed a police car marked for a city at least twenty miles away, and it got me wondering – What can a cop not do out of his jurisdiction? Could he have pulled somebody over for simple speeding (say 5-10 miles over the speed limit)? How about littering or other minor infractions? If so, could he ticket somebody or just give them a warning? I’m not necessarily looking for answers to the above examples. I’m more interested in what, in general, a cop cannot do once he is out of his jurisdiction. Thanks in advance-DESK ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/2 "2003-04-18T18:20:08Z")
According to Cecil ([http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_146.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_146.html)) as long as you are within the same state as the officer’s home juristiction, you’re in trouble. It looks like police can function all over their state, regardless of their home office. ---
**Author:** ![Riboflavin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Riboflavin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riboflavin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/3 "2003-04-18T18:53:15Z")
Look again - he’s talking about Illinois, not everywhere in the US. Different states handle police powers in different ways. The safe assumption is that any cop from the state can pull you over anywhere in the state, but in some states it’s not true. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/4 "2003-04-18T19:01:39Z")
In my state, a police officer, regardless of which municipality the officer works for, can enforce state laws anywhere in the state. ---
**Author:** ![Wyld\_Stallyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Wyld\_Stallyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wyld_Stallyn)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/5 "2003-04-18T19:10:37Z")
Haven’t you guys seen _Dukes of Hazzard_? Once the Duke boys were able to cross the county line out of Hazzard county, there was nothin’ the cops could do. Uh Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/6 "2003-04-18T19:14:01Z")
My understanding of California is that all cops in the state are “peace officers” of the state. That means they can enforce the law anywhere in CA. The cities or counties only serve as the employer for purposes of giving cops a paycheck, telling you were to patrol, setting up policies and guidelines, etc. Similarrly, I am an attorney. Even though my employer is in Sacramento, and we handle Sacramento area cases, I can practice law in any state court if the need arises. This part I’m not sure about: I also understand that many states have interstate compacts with neighboring states allowing cops from one state to continue prsuits into the other states without having to worry about jurisdiction issues. If you commit a crime in Sacramento, CA, then you are pursued hotly into Nevada by Sac City Police, Sac County Sheriff, and CHP, any CA cop (state, county, or city) can arrest you in Nevada. However, it is my understanding that once the criminal flees Sacramento, the CHP will take over the chase. If the criminal flees outside the designated area for that CHP office, the next CHP division for that area will take over. So, you probably won’t find a CHP offcier from Sac chasing somebody all the way down to Mexico. So, if the Duke Boys drive the General Lee over the Hazzard County line, Roscoe doesn’t have to stop at the line and shake his fistwhile the Duke Boys just sit and laugh from 3 feet away in the adjacent county. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/7 "2003-04-18T19:46:07Z")
Can I extend the OP and ask how Interpol affects this? It seems fairly obvious to me that a UK policeman has no authority in the US, except at the British Embassy (being UK territory) and possibly UK Consulates, but if he’s accredited (or whatever they call it) by Interpol, what gives? I suggest we page **Badge**. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/8 "2003-04-19T23:00:51Z")
or John Maclane (Bruce willis is his undercover name) ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/9 "2003-04-19T23:23:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by qts \* > \*\*Can I extend the OP and ask how Interpol affects this? > > It seems fairly obvious to me that a UK policeman has no authority in the US, except at the British Embassy (being UK territory) and possibly UK Consulates, but if he’s accredited (or whatever they call it) by Interpol, what gives?\*\* [Interpol](http://www.interpol.int/Default.asp) is an [intergovernmental commission](http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/LegalMaterials/constitution/constitutionGenReg/constitution.asp), with a [Secretariat](http://www.interpol.int/Public/icpo/governance/sg/default.asp) and a [General Assembly](http://www.interpol.int/Public/icpo/GeneralAssembly/default.asp) modeled after the United Nations, not a police force in the traditional sense: > [@](#): > > Its aims are: > > (1) To ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities within the limits of the laws existing in the different countries and in the spirit of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”; > > (2) To establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes. Interpol’s staff consists of [civil servants and administrative staff](http://www.interpol.int/Public/Icpo/Recruitment/default.asp), not police officers who patrol the world: > [@](#): > > **[Main job profiles](http://www.interpol.int/Public/Icpo/Recruitment/selection.asp):** > > [ul][li]Processing criminal information: compiling and entering data communicated by the official law-enforcement departments, drafting replies to countries, etc.; [/li][li]Drafting and publishing notices; [/li][li]Crime analysis; [/li][li]Language services: one department for each of the official languages (Arabic, English, French, Spanish); [/li][li]Legal affairs and general reference departments; [/li][li]Information technology and telecommunications (systems management, research and development); [/li][li]Trilingual secretariat services (English, French, Spanish); [/li][li]Support services (general services, human resources, finance and accounts, security, document production, etc.).[/ul][/li] **Place of work: Lyons, France** > > _Interpol is not involved in any way in the recruitment of staff for the National Central Bureaus: such recruitment is the direct responsibility of the member countries’ national administrations._ > > The vast majority of positions for which staff are recruited under contract are sedentary posts with few opportunities to travel. As missions abroad are generally connected with police matters, they are usually carried out by the police officers seconded to the General Secretariat. Interpol’s actual police functions are exercised exclusively through domestic law enforcement. When more than one nation’s police are involved, Interpol helps coordinate those police forces’ activities. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/10 "2003-04-20T02:12:41Z")
Per state law all officers in Milwaukee County have county wide jurisdiction. I was on the job full time for a small department (not in Milwaukee County) after I got out of college. The county sheriff deputized officers from every department, thus giving them county wide jurisdiction, even though they didn’t actually work for him. In many states a peace officer can make arrests for any felony, even if he’s out of his jurisdiction, but still in his state. The department I now work part-time for has state wide jurisdiction (it’s a state agency), but department policy forbids making arrests off duty unless it’s a felony. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-outside-of-their-jurisdiction-limitations/169602/11 "2003-04-20T02:15:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pkbites \* > \*\*but department policy forbids making arrests off duty unless it’s a felony. \*\* Uh, the policy on this is actually quite broad and long, but that’s about gist of it.