Practical case law analysis, officer-safety guidance, and legal updates written for today's law enforcement professionals.
231 articles
I sat with Antoine Jones last December in Las Vegas. Yes, THE Antoine Jones from the U.S. Supreme Court GPS tracker case. It was just the two of us in the studio, me, a former cop turned legal instructor, and him, the man behind one of the most important Fourth Amendment cases of our time.
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When individuals with guilty knowledge, such as criminals or those aware of their wrongdoing, encounter police, they often exhibit instantaneous behavioral and physiological reactions, such as freezing, fleeing, or engaging in a fight response to avoid apprehension. These responses often manifest as extreme nervousness, betraying the suspect’s state of mind. These rapid, reflexive reactions are
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Once an in-custody suspect invokes his Fifth Amendment right to counsel, police are barred from initiating further interrogative efforts on any matter while the suspect remains in custody, unless the suspect has been provided with counsel and counsel is present. Failure on the part of police to adhere to this rule creates an irrebuttable presumption
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In the complex and dynamic world of law enforcement, the ability to recognize and interpret human behavior under stress is a powerful asset. The human threat response, commonly referred to as freeze, flight, and fight, is a survival mechanism hardwired into our biology. Many times, you will hear the order of those responses be referred
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The purpose of this article is simply to call attention to a pervasive problem in the law enforcement profession. Solutions to the problem can be fleshed out in future discussions. But without adequately demonstrating that a problem exists, discussion about making procedural changes is pointless. Why do officers over-Mirandize? As a profession, law enforcement officers
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Why do criminals react to the presence of police? In the world of law enforcement and behavioral observation, a common and often telling occurrence is the reaction of certain individuals upon the mere sight of a uniformed officer. Officers patrolling city streets frequently encounter people who abruptly alter their behavior once they make visual contact
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Remember: A threat does not have to be something that can physically hurt the person such as a predatory animals. A threat can be a boss who is about to catch the person slacking off, a teacher who is about to call on the student who was not paying attention and will not be able
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In the dynamic world of patrol, the moments before a suspect flees on foot often hold a wealth of information, if an officer knows what to look for. Criminals rarely act without warning; their bodies betray their intentions long before their feet hit the pavement. Understanding pre-flight indicators and extreme nervousness cues is a vital
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What does armed and dangerous actually require? Under the Fourth Amendment, in order to justify a non-consensual search of a lawfully detained person, an officer must have a reasonable belief the person is “armed and dangerous.” This is the key holding in Terry v. Ohio. Since then, many lower courts have interpreted the Supreme Court’s
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