The Court Of Public Opinion

Law enforcement serves and protects citizens and maintains the peace and order in a given area. Within law enforcement, there are many other sub-branches. Substantial training is required in order to become an effective law enforcement official. Each branch of law enforcement requires even more specific training.

Being an effective police officer requires not only physical and psychological wellness, but more importantly, discipline. Training in the police force can become quite harsh. The training includes shooting practice, simulations of real-life situations that require law enforcement intervention, and crime scene investigation education.

Whether you end up as a detective or a uniformed police officer, it is important that you know how to search for evidence or scenarios that are unusual or out of place. Being able to notice the right small detail could potentially solve the case you are handling. Training also teaches would-be policemen and policewomen these tactics.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) division, you should expect to undergo even more demanding training. You will not only need more physical training, but you will need to be familiarized with the weapons and strategies involved in a scenario that requires your services.

SWAT police usually have to work under intense pressure. As a result, they are trained both physically and psychologically to respond quickly and intelligently to life-threatening scenarios. SWAT also makes its officers undergo intense teamwork training. SWAT officers need to be able to work as one unit for their plans of attack to be effective.

Law Enforcement provides detailed information on Law Enforcement, Law Enforcement Jobs, Law Enforcement Training, Law Enforcement Equipment and more. Law Enforcement is affiliated with Bail Bond Companies .

Most individuals have encountered a police officer at least once in their lives. Law enforcement officials maintain peace and order in society. Law enforcement officials are commonly known as police or police officers.

The major role of the police is to discourage or prevent individuals from committing crimes. If and when a crime has been committed, the standard operating procedure is to treat every suspect as innocent until the evidence proves beyond the shadow of doubt that the person is guilty. If the police are able apprehend a suspected perpetrator, the suspect is detained but the determination of his guilt or innocence is not made by the police. There are proper authorities who are responsible for reaching a verdict.

Police officers can also serve as escorts to protect important public functions. Law enforcement officials and other public servants also cooperate and engage in rescues during emergency situations such as natural disasters. In such cases, police, fire fighters, and medical personnel all cooperate with one another to rescue as many people as possible.

Law enforcement officials can also be found on the streets engaged in traffic duty. They maintain peace and order, apprehending drivers who go beyond the speed limit. You may have also received a citation for simple violations such as driving through a red light, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or simply neglecting to pay the parking meter. Whatever the reason, law enforcement officers are here to serve and to protect the public by upholding the rule of law.

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As many people know, the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States forbids the unreasonable search or seizure of U.S. citizens. Generally, there must be probable cause to arrest or search persons or their private property, which means that the officer must have a reasonable suspicion based on articulable facts that some wrongdoing has occurred. How, then, are law enforcement agents able, constitutionally, to stop motorists at sobriety checkpoints?

According to constitutional law, some stops are not considered seizures of a person. This is the case with a so called stop and frisk in which an officer detains a person for a very brief period of time and quickly checks their outer clothing for contraband. Sometimes, if a person is detained for less than 48 hours, it is not considered a seizure. However, this is not true for DUI roadblocks. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that stopping someone at such a roadblock does constitute a seizure of that person under the Fourth Amendment.

One however further and the language of the Constitution gets tangled up in the thicket of constitutional interpretation and case law. The Supreme Court could have claimed that these stops without probable cause are constitutional under the doctrine of exigent circumstances. The Court has repeatedly held that when an officer believes evidence is about to be destroyed, he can perform a search without a warrant. However, this doctrine seems only to apply to searches. Instead, it appears as though the Court used a balancing test, common in other areas of constitutional law, whereby the minimal intrusion on individual liberties was weighed against the need for and efficacy of roadblocks and found to be less important.

To some, it seems that the Court has simply carved out of the Constitution another exception, similar to the one for exigent circumstances, for sobriety checkpoints. DUI defense attorneys often refer to this as the DUI exception to the Constitution. Critics and dissenting justices have pointed out that the Fourth Amendment does not make exceptions. The only question is whether the officer has probable cause to stop the individual driver. Justice Brennan wrote, That stopping every car might make it easier to prevent drunken driving…is an insufficient justification for abandoning the requirement of individualized suspicion.

The Court’s justification for the exception rested on the assumption that DUI roadblocks are necessary and effective. However, there is some controversy as to whether this is true. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released data on alcohol-related deaths in 2003 and 2004. There was a decline in such fatalities in 2004, and most of the drop occurred in states that don’t use sobriety checkpoints. Critics already concerned about the large outlay of resources required to operate checkpoints are doubly concerned if spending the resources does not even necessarily prevent DUI offenses.

On the other hand, law enforcement agents believe that checkpoints are effective even if intoxicated drivers get around them because they spread the message that driving under the influence is not tolerated. Officers often provide informational pamphlets to motorists stopped at checkpoints, explaining the consequences of drunk driving, which may have a deterrent effect.

Copyright 2006 Lance Knowlton

Having been struck by drunk drivers twice, Lance Knowlton has a deep appreciation for this serious problem. To learn how you can help prevent drunk driving in your community and earn money at the same time, visit: http://www.alcoholalert.com.

Each one of us has witnessed a law enforcement official maintaining peace and order in the streets. We see these officers wearing their uniforms, and we can easily identify them because they usually wear specialized law enforcement badges.

A law enforcement badge is an insignia that identifies a certain individual as a member of the police force. It specifies the location of the officers jurisdiction and has a unique set of numbers that differentiates one officer from other officers in the same department. The badges also display the rank of the officer. Each department has a different badge design.

You will notice that there are generally two common shapes in law enforcement badges: the star and the shield. It is not mandatory, but usually, county sheriffs wear badges that are shaped as a star. Some of the star badges have a crescent border surrounding them. Other badges are shaped like shields. But what really differentiates one badge from another is the city seal. Note that there are no standard rules about what a badge should look like. These are just the common designs that we see.

The different designs sometimes make it difficult to identify not only the affiliation of the law enforcers we meet, but also the authenticity of the badges that they carry. There are companies that manufacture replicas of law enforcement badges. Though these copies are generally sold as collectibles or costume accessories, there are people who acquire these fake badges with the intention of impersonating police officers and deceiving victims.

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As many people know, the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States forbids the unreasonable search or seizure of U.S. citizens. Generally, there must be probable cause to arrest or search persons or their private property, which means that the officer must have a reasonable suspicion based on articulable facts that some wrongdoing has occurred. How, then, are law enforcement agents able, constitutionally, to stop motorists at sobriety checkpoints?

According to constitutional law, some stops are not considered seizures of a person. This is the case with a so called stop and frisk in which an officer detains a person for a very brief period of time and quickly checks their outer clothing for contraband. Sometimes, if a person is detained for less than 48 hours, it is not considered a seizure. However, this is not true for DUI roadblocks. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that stopping someone at such a roadblock does constitute a seizure of that person under the Fourth Amendment.

One however further and the language of the Constitution gets tangled up in the thicket of constitutional interpretation and case law. The Supreme Court could have claimed that these stops without probable cause are constitutional under the doctrine of exigent circumstances. The Court has repeatedly held that when an officer believes evidence is about to be destroyed, he can perform a search without a warrant. However, this doctrine seems only to apply to searches. Instead, it appears as though the Court used a balancing test, common in other areas of constitutional law, whereby the minimal intrusion on individual liberties was weighed against the need for and efficacy of roadblocks and found to be less important.

To some, it seems that the Court has simply carved out of the Constitution another exception, similar to the one for exigent circumstances, for sobriety checkpoints. DUI defense attorneys often refer to this as the DUI exception to the Constitution. Critics and dissenting justices have pointed out that the Fourth Amendment does not make exceptions. The only question is whether the officer has probable cause to stop the individual driver. Justice Brennan wrote, That stopping every car might make it easier to prevent drunken driving…is an insufficient justification for abandoning the requirement of individualized suspicion.

The Court’s justification for the exception rested on the assumption that DUI roadblocks are necessary and effective. However, there is some controversy as to whether this is true. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released data on alcohol-related deaths in 2003 and 2004. There was a decline in such fatalities in 2004, and most of the drop occurred in states that don’t use sobriety checkpoints. Critics already concerned about the large outlay of resources required to operate checkpoints are doubly concerned if spending the resources does not even necessarily prevent DUI offenses.

On the other hand, law enforcement agents believe that checkpoints are effective even if intoxicated drivers get around them because they spread the message that driving under the influence is not tolerated. Officers often provide informational pamphlets to motorists stopped at checkpoints, explaining the consequences of drunk driving, which may have a deterrent effect.

Copyright 2006 Lance Knowlton

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Law enforcement serves and protects citizens and maintains the peace and order in a given area. Within law enforcement, there are many other sub-branches. Substantial training is required in order to become an effective law enforcement official. Each branch of law enforcement requires even more specific training.

Being an effective police officer requires not only physical and psychological wellness, but more importantly, discipline. Training in the police force can become quite harsh. The training includes shooting practice, simulations of real-life situations that require law enforcement intervention, and crime scene investigation education.

Whether you end up as a detective or a uniformed police officer, it is important that you know how to search for evidence or scenarios that are unusual or out of place. Being able to notice the right small detail could potentially solve the case you are handling. Training also teaches would-be policemen and policewomen these tactics.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) division, you should expect to undergo even more demanding training. You will not only need more physical training, but you will need to be familiarized with the weapons and strategies involved in a scenario that requires your services.

SWAT police usually have to work under intense pressure. As a result, they are trained both physically and psychologically to respond quickly and intelligently to life-threatening scenarios. SWAT also makes its officers undergo intense teamwork training. SWAT officers need to be able to work as one unit for their plans of attack to be effective.

More articles at articles on database