Cheating death and fighting communism: that is how a fellow officer once described our job. It was meant to be funny, but as time went on it seemed all too true.
I spent more than ten years in law enforcement, all of it on the street in uniform patrol. I've been a patrol officer, instructor, sergeant and lieutenant.
Do not report crimes here. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. All opinions are my own.
If you go to work for a local police department, you will go to uniform patrol. It is there that you will learn a lot about the job and people. If you become really good at your job, you can earn your way into a specialized position. Some people are really good but enjoy patrol, so they stay in uniform.
When you first get to the department, you go through a field training & evaluation program that will help get you the very basic level of proficiency in doing the job.
Most police officers do not shoot another person. Every police officer has to make life-and-death decisions on a regular basis, including if he or she needs to use force to protect another. No one wants to shoot another person, but you have to be willing to do so if it is required to protect yourself or another person.
You didn't mention if you were speeding. I'd suggest paying the ticket if you were. Other people were speeding worse than I was doesn't generate much sympathy from a judge.
If the trooper was using laser, then you were definitely the person he measured going whatever speed was on the citation. If he/she was using radar, there could be some doubt that an experienced traffic attorney could bring up in trial.
The above is not legal advice, of course.
Did you know that speed is the #1 contributing factor to traffic fatalities?
I was a sgt at one department and a lieutenant at another. The duties of the ranks were different at each of the two agencies. For example, one of my duties at both jobs was being the commander of the field training and evaluation program. Yet one department assigned that to a sergeant and the other agency to a lieutenant. There are no hard and fast rules.
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Ok. Is there a question?
Thanks for the question. This has been addressed twice before, so to save a little time, here is one of the answers from above:
"In what context? If an officer is taking enforcement action, then at a reasonable time he or she should identify him- or herself in a reasonable manner. That will likely include a badge and ID card.
If someone knocks on your door and asks to speak with you it is certainly reasonable to request to see identification. Call the local law enforcement agency and confirm the officer's identity if you have any doubts.
Asking an officer to show you his or her badge in the middle of a fight, chase or in the middle of some other dangerous situation might not be feasible. It is all situationally dependent. Unfortunately, everone looks for a simple black and white answer, but life's not that easy. Reasonableness is the key to everything."
What happens depends on what happened. For example, if an elderly person or someone suffering from a known medical condition is found dead inside their home, and there are no signs of criminal activity, a cursory investigation is done to document that information.
If a person is found dead in other circumstances, say with a gunshot wound or ligature marks, the situation is investigated as a homicide. The results of the investigation could lead to a ruling of wrongful death/murder, suicide, accidental homicide, justified homicide, or undetermined cause of death. Keep in mind these are all just generalities, and specific determinations vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
Generally, the primary investigative agency will be the one where the body is located. There are provisions in the law that would allow another agency to handle the investigation in certain circumstances. For example, if a person was kidnapped in county A, was taken through county B, was killed in county C, and was dumped in county D, any of the jurisdictions where the crime took place (all four) could assume control of the investigation. However, this is governed by state law (which varies) and common sense almost always applies. For example, county B in the above case would not try to take control of the investigation. Keep in mind that each state has its own set of laws that may be different that what I described. Also, transporting someone across state lines during the commission of a crime can now involve two different sets of state laws plus federal law since it is an interstate crime.
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