Let’s say you’re a cop from New York City and you have to go on official business to Albany. Since it’s official business you take a police cruiser (w/lights and all). While in Albany, you witness a hit and run. Question: can you run the driver down and arrest him? Or do you hold on to the guy until the local police arrive?
I believe (and posting this is an excellent way to find out if I’m wrong - easier than researching - hey! I look up lots of stuff for GQ) that, in Texas, peace officers are licensed as such by the state, so a Houston cop is still a cop even if he happens to be in Austin.
Maybe I should’ve looked this up.
In California, a sworn police officer is a police officer anywhere in the state and, during hot pursuit, in adjoining states. Off duty officers in some California jurisdictions are required to carry a firearm and ID.
An officer, in uniform, in a police car is on duty and, as such, has a responsibility to protect the public safety.
This issue has been addressed by cecil himself in one of his columns. How many times do I have to tell you to do your homework or you’ll never amount to anything?
I looked it up, all Texas peace officers (including jailers) are licensed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
I remember when I was in DC. Off the top of my head, law enforcement agency cruisers I saw within city limits included DC police, Maryland police, Virginia police, Secret Service, Capitol police, Park police, and I’m sure one or two others. Now, I also happened to live in the heart of the red light district, so I got to see hookers reacting to all of the above. They provided great entertainment, BTW. Anyway, what struck me was that they all knew which cops to run from and which to ignore. I forget some of which were which, but they did run from DC police and ignored Secret Service cars. Interesting. You’d think they’d let anyone bust any crime, but I guess not.
A police officer in Massachusetts is an officer anywhere in Massachusetts. Usually, though, they will simply detain the suspect until a local officer arrives. Don’t want to step on anyone’s turf, after all.
Things get complicated if you live where I do…we’re bordered by 2 towns in Rhode Island. An officer in my town can chase people into RI, and can continue to chase them as long as the pursuit is “fresh,” ie, they didn’t lose sight of them at any point. When they catch them, they usually wait for the local officers again to make the arrest.
It’s the same way here in Florida. Your state standards make you a sworn officer anywhere in the state. I have a bad habit of leaving my stuff (badge and gun) at home when I travel around the state. It gets real hot and humid around here in the summer and I don’t feel like wearing bulky clothing.
Same here in Australia. Each state runs its own Police force, hence officers have statewide powers. The federal government also runs a Police department which has jurisdiction in the Australian Capital Territory, and any federal property and land both inside and beyond mainland Australia. This includes dependancies like Norfolk Island and embassies on foreign soil.
My s.o. is a cop and I asked him about this once. (we’re in Maryland suburb of D.C.). He said it’s a judgment call – if he considers an incident very serious or dangerous to others, or sees a crime in progress, regardless of the jurisdiction, he acts (and is expected to). He’s a park cop, and normally doesn’t have to deal with robberies or violent crimes, but he was having lunch one day across the street from a bank when a woman (having seen his cruiser) ran to him exclaiming a couple of women had just robbed someone inside the bank. He went after them and caught them (they were in foot, so there was no hot pursuit). So in that case, the perps (he guffaws when I use that term) would have gotten away if he hadn’t acted. As for minor offenses (e.g., parking tickets), nope. I complained about illegal parking in front of my office building and would he please go ticket them – nope, that’s the city police. I expect this would be true of any state - if a cop, any cop, sees a crime in progress or a dangerous situation, they’re obligated to do something about it.
Does Australia have an equivilent of the FBI for inter-state crimes? Do they make distinctions between state and federal crimes?
Here in Washington, it’s the same. The police power is construed as deriving from the state constitution, so they’re all allowed to act anywhere in the state. There are certainly some limitations they hold to, of course, but they don’t have to. For instance, local cops hate having State Patrolmen on a crime scene, as they often aren’t trained for it. And they love to call the State Patrol for any vehicular investigation, because they are the best at that.
The moral of the story is: Don’t expect jurisdiction to help you when you try to run from cops (In other words, don’t try to run from cops.) They may have some rivalries, but they tend to band together against the bad guys.
Some years back, Idaho police were chasing someone for a simple traffic offense. It was obvious to them that the guy thought he could evade the ticket if he could get across the state line. They let him go, and radioed into Washington for someone to stop him. They did. The bad part for the perp was that ‘evading a police officer’ is a gross misdemenor in Idaho, but it’s a felony in Washington. The law didn’t say that the police officer they were evading had to be from this state. So the fool let himself be chased from some time in a county jail into a penitentiary.
What about state cops going outta state? Like Texas Rangers going into Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana (Bonnie & Clyde were killed by Rangers), (old) Mexico, etc. (bad example…nobody would f*ck with the Rangers ;))
Outside of their State, unless in limited circumstances, a cop is just a regular citizen. Altho, usu, by courtesy he is allowed to carry his gun, but that varies by juristiction.
Generally speaking, if the pursuit warrants it, state boundaries are not an issue. It doesn’t matter if the pursuing agency is state, county, or city.
The Alabama border is only a few miles away from our jurisdiction, if warranted, we can enter that state. It would be our responsibility and courtesy to inform the Alabama law enforcement authorities of the situation.
The same is extended to our Alabaman counterparts entering Florida.
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*Originally posted by friedo *
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We have a body called the National Crime Authority, which is supposed to tackle major crime that crosses state and international boundaries. Unfortunately, it is more of a bureaurocracy that a law enforcement body, hence it is nothing like the potent body that the FBI is.
That said, someone mailed a parcel bomb to the head offcie about 5 years ago, which resulted in the death of one seconded detective, extensive burns to another, and the near destruction of the office.
Maybe they weren’t as impotent as I may have painted them.