Legal
The Legal topic page on Police1 is a must-read for any officer, at any agency, who wants to stay up-to-date on the latest news. Every trial, verdict and court decision that has to do with cops will be covered on this page.
The appellate court began by citing other cases in which the court “held that it’s reasonable for officers to tase fleeing suspects”
The rise of consumer DNA testing and open genetic databases made forensic genetic genealogy a valuable tool for law enforcement investigations
SWAT
Court ruled that a jury may find that participating officers used unconstitutional excessive force during the execution of the warrant
Family members filed a lawsuit after a man was killed when paramedics placed a backboard on his back and directed a police officer to sit on it
The appellate panel noted that merely carrying a concealed gun could imply a crime under Michigan law, which requires individuals to prove their possession is lawful with a license
The court stated that using the suspect’s thumbprint required no mental exertion on his part and fell into the same category as a blood test taken at booking
The law increases penalties for anyone who assaults or kills a law enforcement animal, including a hefty fine on top of paying for medical costs
St. Louis Police Sgt. Jaytonya Muldrow sued after she was forcibly transferred without a demotion or decrease in pay; the Supreme Court ruled that workers only have to show that the transfer resulted in “some harm” to prove their claims
Luther Hall was walking back toward police headquarters following a protest in 2017 when his uniformed colleagues ordered him to put up his hands and get on the ground
A SWAT team executed a no-knock warrant on the wrong house, resulting in the injury of an occupant and a lawsuit
An officer struck by a “rock-like” object during a 2016 protest in Baton Rouge sued the protest’s organizer, alleging his role as organizer contributed to the incident
The legislation, which followed the death of a man crossing a street turned pitch black by the theft of copper wiring in streetlights, would require anyone selling copper metal to have a state-issued license
The term has been banned from police officer and EMS training except to describe its historical usage
The bill would provide for information sharing and dissemination, emulating the New Jersey State Police real-time crime center; there, agecies are tied into a real-time computer chat to report car thefts and information
CISDs help responders deal with on-the-job trauma; recent cases put peer support group counseling confidentiality in doubt
The new law rolls back a 2020 voter-approved measure by making so-called personal use possession a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail
Officer Anthony Varvaro’s family was reportedly denied death benefits after he was killed in a car crash; if passed, the new legislation will extend death benefits to the families of officers killed on the way to work
An ordinance prohibiting pretextual stops is among the reforms that have been nullified by the new state law
The city agreed to pay the officer $145,000 and to rewrite its civil service medical examiner’s policies
After the crash, Peter Simon pulled a knife on another officer before stealing his cruiser
The ruling came after Gerald Goines’ lawyers argued prosecutors had used the underlying charge of tampering with a government record to indict him for murder
The suspect, who was on meth, refused Officer Toni McBride’s commands to drop a box cutter as he continued to move toward officers at the scene of a car crash
“Problem-based” training, real-time inspections and multiple audits have resulted in major improvements in traffic stop interactions, according to the NOPD’s presentation
The decision is the latest step in a legal battle between the city and the police union, which advocated for officers to have choice in how their cases should be decided
The law allows open carry starting at the age of 18; guns can now be stored anywhere inside a vehicle without being hidden, and those with a concealed weapon are no longer required to identify the weapon to police
The lawsuit alleges that Glock knows it could prevent the conversions but refuses to do so and seeks to ban the company from selling guns to people in Chicago
Is placing two suspects in a room together an interrogation? Can Miranda rights be violated without an interrogation?
The court rules on whether a dog sniff or the vehicle inventory and impound led to the extension of the traffic stop
Minn. SROs can use prone restraints on students in ‘physically dangerous’ situations, new law states
The new law, signed by Gov. Tim Walz on March 14, comes after more than 40 agencies suspended their school resource officer programs last year in response to a law that generated confusion about restraint restrictions
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