法律英语：60 Police Jurisdiction

by Michael W. Flynn
 
First, a disclaimer: Although I am an attorney, the legal information in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed¹ to practice in your jurisdiction².  Further, I do not intend to create an attorney-client relationship with any listener. Today’s topic is municipal police jurisdiction.
Stephen wrote:

I was wondering, is a police officer from "city A" allowed to make a traffic stop in "city B"? Does it matter if the two cities are in the same county or not?

The short answer is that generally a police officer only has jurisdiction within his city limits, but several exceptions apply that might give the officer jurisdiction in a specific case. Also, some states give city police jurisdiction within their county, or even in the entire state.

The reason that it is important that an officer arrests within his jurisdiction is that an arrest outside his jurisdiction is considered unlawful. The state generally will not be successful in prosecuting⁴ a defendant⁵ where the underlying⁶ arrest was unlawful.

The general rule is that an officer only has jurisdiction to effect an arrest within the geographical⁷ boundaries of the municipality for which he works. But not all states follow this rule. For example, in New York, an officer can arrest anywhere in the state so long as the officer has enough suspicion to believe that a crime has been committed.  In Texas, city officers can arrest anywhere in the county.  In some states, a city officer’s jurisdiction will extend for some specific distance into unincorporated areas near his jurisdiction.

Even in those states that limit the officer’s jurisdiction to city limits, there are exceptions. An officer may always follow a suspect of crime while the officer is in hot pursuit of the suspect. For example, in a Virginia case, an officer witnessed a traffic violation⁸, turned on his lights and slowly followed the suspect out of town. His conviction was upheld on appeal on the ground that the officer was in hot pursuit. By contrast, in an Arkansas case, an officer saw a car that was driving erratically⁹, but the officer lost the car while trying to tail him. Several hours later, the officer saw what looked like the same car in a parking lot of an Elk’s Lodge¹⁰ just outside city limits. The officer detained the suspect and called for an officer with jurisdiction to make an arrest. The appellate court threw out the conviction on the ground that the officer who detained the suspect was acting¹¹ outside his jurisdiction, and was not in hot pursuit of the car he had seen several hours earlier.

Another exception to geographical limits is where the officer already has a warrant. Generally, an officer can arrest a suspect pursuant to a warrant from his city or county anywhere within the state. A city officer can make an arrest outside his jurisdiction where the adjoining jurisdiction has called for help or specifically asked the officer to enter the jurisdiction. Some counties or cities have entered into preexisting agreements whereby any officer from one city may cross into the next to make an arrest.

But even if the officer acts outside his jurisdiction, and not pursuant to any of these exceptions, the arrest might still be lawful³ as a citizen’s arrest. As discussed in a past episode, any citizen is generally authorized¹² to make a citizen’s arrest if he witnesses a felony. So, if the officer in the Arkansas case had witnessed a drug deal behind that Elk’s Lodge, his arrest would likely have been upheld as lawful because he witnessed a felony. By contrast, most traffic offenses¹³ are considered misdemeanors. So, if an officer in a state that followed strict geographical limitations witnessed a traffic violation just out of town, he would not be able to arrest as an officer, and he could not successfully argue that he was making a citizen’s arrest because he had only witnessed a misdemeanor.

But, as I have advised with any police encounter, it is almost always better to calmly cooperate with the officer. Belligerence¹⁴ and violence are just not good ideas when dealing¹⁵ with someone who carries a nightstick, mace¹⁶ and a gun. If the officer stops you, and you think he is acting outside his jurisdiction, it is better to cooperate and challenge the jurisdiction later.

Thank you for listening to Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful Life.  Be sure to take the short listener survey by clicking on the green 5 to the right of the transcript¹⁷.

You can send questions and comments to................or call them in to the voicemail line at 206-202-4LAW.  Please note that doing so will not create an attorney-client relationship and will be used for the purposes of this podcast only.

Legal Lad's theme music is "No Good Layabout" by Kevin MacLeod.

 

1 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

2 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

3 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

4 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

5 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

6 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

7 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

8 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

9 erratically   

adv.不规律地，不定地

参考例句：

• Police stopped him for driving erratically. 警察因其驾驶不循规则而把他拦下了。 来自辞典例句
• Magnetitite-bearing plugs are found erratically from the base of the Critical Zone. 含磁铁岩的岩栓不规则地分布于关键带的基底以上。 来自辞典例句

10 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

13 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

14 belligerence   

n.交战，好战性，斗争性

参考例句：

• He could be accused of passion,but never belligerence.可以说他很冲动，但不能说他爱挑事。
• He was almost back to his belligerent mood of twelve months ago.他故态复萌，几乎又像一年前那样咄咄逼人了。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 mace   

n.狼牙棒，豆蔻干皮

参考例句：

• The sword and mace were favourite weapons for hand-to-hand fighting.剑和狼牙棒是肉搏战的最佳武器。
• She put some mace into the meat.她往肉里加了一些肉豆蔻干皮。

17 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。