Possible oops here

In the column for 01152003, Cecil is discussing jurisdictions for various police agencies and says:
“Things get more complicated if we bring in cops for other states, or the federal authorities. Although Illinois cops, for instance, can chase you all over the Land of Lincoln, they can’t pursue you into adjoining states. They have to radio ahead to alert the cops in the state you’re trying to escape into. Later Illinois officials will have to arrange to have you extradited back here for trial. Usually this is a formality, but there have been several well-publicized instances where one state refused to surrender a prisoner to another.”

I think this needs to be looked at again. Illinois may have an administrative policy about crossing state lines, but the doctrine of hot pursuit has been upheld many times in courts throughout the land. If I’m a cop in Texas and chase somebody into Louisiana, I can legally arrest them there and bring them back to Texas, no extradition required. Courts have unanimously held that the fact that the officer is in hot pursuit, especially when taking the time to call for assistance from other agencies would allow the offender to escape, extends the officer’s jurisdiction as needed.

Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment.
Thank you for mentioning the column, but it’s almost just as easy to publish a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site.
To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space before and after the text of the URL).

Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link:
Who’s the boss, city cops, state cops, or the Feds? (23-Feb-1979)


moderator, «Comments on Cecil’s Columns»

This issue has been delt with in the past (specifically Illinois).

Check here:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=135355