The Bill of Rights plays a vital role in law enforcement’s role to complete their mission following all proper legal channels and provides officers with the knowledge to ensure they abide by the rights and freedoms provided by the United States Constitution. The Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBoR) provides officers with the same constitutional rights as the public and further protects officers against law suits and during exigent circumstances. The Bill of Rights was initially intended to restrict some activities of federal law enforcement and provide more activities for the state and local agencies (Ortmeier, 2006). Further, the LEOBoR protects officers from unreasonable ...view middle of the document...
Providing suspects with their legal rights is not just something officers do to follow rules or procedures, but is something promised by the constitution to all people.
Just as in everything, there are exigent circumstances where the Miranda rights are not required. According to Benoit (2011) the “Public Safety” exception is warranted and officers are not required to advise a suspect/subject or their legal rights if there is imminent danger to people, places or the nation. The Boston Marathon bombings is the most recent example of this exception being put into place. The subject taken into custody was not advised of his legal rights after FBI Agents determined there was probable cause to believe there were more bombs and more people were in danger. BY this “Public Safety” exception it allows officer the ability to question any subject without Miranda rights when there is an immediate danger.
As officers, we respond to special scenarios and scenes on a daily basis. These can vary anywhere from domestic disputes, suicidal ideations, suicide attempts, child abuse/neglect/rape, rape, etc. Each situation has certain procedures that are followed and provided per your agencies SOP’s. If law enforcement is notified of a missing person the first thing that is done is obtaining a...
