Law enforcement

“ The police agencies — all the way from municipal and state forces to the federal bureaus — are responsible for law enforcement and public safety in this country. I am proud of their efforts, which, in my view, are not fairly characterized by the Court's opinion. ”

“ By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Despite the dangers they face while patrolling our Nation's cities, neighborhoods, and highways, America's law enforcement officers continue to serve with commitment and distinction every day. They put themselves in harm's way to safeguard our fellow citizens, and their dedication to the rule of law is essential to maintaining a just and orderly society. ”

“ The Union shall establish police cooperation involving all the Member States' competent authorities, including police, customs and other specialised law enforcement services in relation to the prevention, detection and investigation of criminal offences. ”

“ In such cases, of course, the officer may make an 'arrest' which results in charging the individual with commission of a crime. But while arresting persons who have already committed crimes is an important task of law enforcement, an equally if not more important function is crime prevention and deterrence of would-be criminals. ”

“ Many law enforcement agencies across the country — including at the Federal, State, Tribal, local, and territorial level — have already undertaken important efforts to modernize policing and make our broader criminal justice system more effective and more equitable. ”

“ One of the most essential and challenging jobs in America belongs to our law enforcement officers. The men and women who safeguard our lives and property every hour of every day are true heroes. They must be physically fit, well-versed in criminal law and procedure, skilled in the use of weapons and other technologies, adept at communicating, leading, and problem-solving, and able to make split-second decisions in life-or-death situations. ”

“ Militarization of Law Enforcement Law enforcement officials have long been required to abide by the Bill of Rights, enshrined in our Constitution. These principles underlie virtually everything they do in their capacity as officers sworn to protect our citizens; and they limit what they can do in fulfilling their specific responsibilities. ”

“ Law enforcement officials who comply with the provisions of this Code deserve the respect, the full support and the co-operation of the community and of the law enforcement agency in which they serve, as well as the law enforcement profession. ”

“ Citizen confidence in law enforcement can be enhanced through increased citizen participation, by informing citizens of police and prosecutor policies, assuring that police departments reflect a cross-section of the communities they serve, establishing neighborhood forums to settle simple disputes, restoring the grand jury to fair and vigorous independence, establishing adequate victim compensation programs, and reaffirming our respect for the individual's right to privacy. ”

“ The Attorney General, in collaboration with the heads of other agencies as appropriate, shall issue guidance for Federal, State, Tribal, local, and territorial LEAs on best practices for planning and conducting law enforcement-community dialogues to improve relations and communication between law enforcement and communities, particularly following incidents involving use of deadly force. ”

“ People in law enforcement make mistakes. There are all kinds of people in law enforcement, just like there are all kinds of people in any endeavor, and all people, the last time I checked, were imperfect. When people make mistakes, they ought to be held accountable and appropriate action ought to be taken. ”

“ Federal law enforcement agencies should take steps to increase the willingness of its agents to consider the advice of outside experts. The subcommittees recommend that Federal law enforcement officials expand their capacity to obtain behavioral analyses of the targets of their investigations. ”

“ Because so many issues involving Federal law enforcement have been in the public's mind in the last several weeks, I would like to say a few things and then just sit here and visit with you and listen to you for a while. Let me begin by saying that we all know that this country still has too much violence, too many drugs, too many gangs, that the culture of violence is still causing enormous difficulty in our country. ”

“ The question before us now is law enforcement. As the constitution and statute stand, they are the express mandate of the people and must be respected by public officers and citizens as long as they remain. ”

“ Having law enforcement agencies agree to and implement memoranda of understanding with other law enforcement agencies under which the other law enforcement agencies— (I) shall conduct the criminal investigation into the alleged use of deadly force; and (II) upon conclusion of the criminal investigation, shall file a report with the attorney general of the State containing a determination regarding whether— (aa) the use of deadly force was appropriate; and (bb) any action should be taken by the attorney general of the State. ”

“ Assist State and local law enforcement agencies in educating the public to prevent, deter, and identify violations of those laws. (C) Educate and train State and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors to conduct investigations and forensic analyses of evidence and prosecutions in matters involving those laws. (D) Establish task forces that include personnel from State or local law enforcement entities, or both, exclusively to conduct investigations and forensic analyses of evidence and prosecutions in matters involving those laws. ”

“ Your legislative departments everywhere have passed innumerable stringent laws and created law enforcement departments of all kinds. You have built your so-called impregnable safes, safe deposit vaults, and burglar alarms. You have developed intricate and costly systems of business protective methods ”

“ In view of these facts, we cannot blind ourselves to the need for law enforcement officers to protect themselves and other prospective victims of violence in situations where they may lack probable cause for an arrest. ”

“ For law enforcement and judicial officials handling cases of organized crime and their close relatives, protective measures may be adopted, such as personal protection and the prohibition of certain persons from having contacts with them. ”

“ However, with the phenomenal growth in the power of the Federal Government, touching virtually every facet of our lives--personal, business, educational, government, religious, recreational, etc.--there has developed a mentality on the part of law enforcement that they can do anything and not be held accountable for it. Along with this we have witnessed the development of a militaristic approach to domestic law enforcement, in everything from dress (black military uniforms and helmets) , to equipment (armored vehicles and military surplus helicopters) , to outlook, to execution. ”

“ In practical politics this clash of moral standards produces not only the anomalous situation referred to but often the strictly administrative matter of law enforcement is consciously and designedly a political issue. ”

“ We focus on situations involving a significant number of well-armed individuals because a number of federal law enforcement agencies are especially trained and highly capable in dealing with the far more familiar situation of one or a few individuals -- perhaps bank robbers -- who have been trapped and are holding a small number of hostages. ”

“ Police The primary mission of the police forces is to ferret out and control domestic opposition to the regime. Combating ordinary crime and protecting the rights and safety of the population are secondary functions of the law enforcement system. A shift in emphasis is likely to occur, however, as the regime becomes more confident about its legitimacy and acceptance by a majority of the citizenry ”

“ Before any federal law enforcement agency undertakes a high risk raid with a significant danger of loss of life of innocent parties or agents, raid plans should be carefully scrutinized by high-ranking officials who will be accountable for the results. All agencies should adopt guidelines that will ensure that raid plans are thoroughly reviewed before they are executed and that standards are enforced to ensure the safety of law enforcement personnel, innocent persons and targets of law enforcement operations. ”

“ We recognize the effectiveness and the growth of local crime watch organizations throughout the country and the major role they have played in turning the tide against crime. By working together and in cooperation with their local law enforcement agencies, citizens have always been one of our most effective deterrents against crime. ”

“ The prospects of negotiations and the prospects of an assault both depend upon how the individuals or groups resisting law enforcement perceive their situation and, particularly, how they perceive their relationship to the government and its law enforcement forces. The type of situation we are describing often involves a group with a view of the government and of the group's obligations to the law that are very different from those of the ordinary citizen and even the ordinary criminal. ”

“ These capacities are expensive to create and maintain; the necessary skills are scarce. The United States government should have one such structure available to serve wherever a major threat of the sort I have described calls for federal law enforcement. With its Hostage Rescue Team, Critical Incident Negotiation Team, Behavioral Science Unit, other relevant components and large number of personnel, the FBI, according to the experts, is the obvious choice. ”

“ My recommendations follow the suggestions of our experts about ways to improve this core structure.
To support the critical elements, there must be a tactical team to maintain an "outer perimeter" to keep others away from the scene; the ability to call upon the military for any necessary support with tactical and transportation equipment; the capacity to gather intelligence from inside and outside the barricades; liaison with other law enforcement agencies and prosecutors ”

“ Our religious studies experts point out that law enforcement can easily undervalue the strength and sincerity of the convictions of people whose beliefs are not familiar. Often religious and political motivations and their likely effect on behavior are crucial factors in law enforcement decisions. The FBI Academy gives new agents 17 hours of instruction in the behavioral sciences, as well as instruction about the first amendment rights of political and religious groups. ”

“ What the experts suggest is that our training of law enforcement agents include material designed to alert agents to the potential importance of differences in views among Americans on such subjects as religion and political ideology. Those who provide this training should themselves become expert in the range and diversity of beliefs held by Americans --including the more unconventional beliefs -- and should be available for advice when events like this occur. ”

“ October 8, 1993 INTRODUCTION The studies by the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury of the confrontation with the Branch Davidians at Waco have raised many questions about our capacity to handle similar situations. In order to identify potential improvements in federal law enforcement, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement Ronald K. Noble and I asked ten experts in law enforcement and the behavioral sciences to review our ability to handle hostage/barricade incidents and recommend improvements. ”

“ Section I — Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed
Methodology
Section I contains statistics on felonious and accidental deaths of duly sworn local, state, and federal law enforcement officers meeting the following criteria: they are working in an official capacity, they have full arrest powers, they wear a badge (ordinarily) , they carry a firearm (ordinarily) , and they are paid from governmental funds set aside specifically for payment of sworn law enforcement representatives.
The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program collects data on officers' deaths from several sources. ”

“ A Detroit police officer with 5 years of law enforcement experience was fatally shot in the head at 2:40 a.m. on August 11 while investigating suspicious persons. The plain clothed officer was investigating individuals who were allegedly gambling in front of a residence. He was wearing body armor and was bent over trying to handcuff an individual for illegally carrying a pistol when another person shot the officer at close range in the back of the head with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. The 31 -year-old officer was taken to a local hospital where he died at 12:30 p.m. ”

“ The Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted program counts victim officers, not the number of incidents or the weapons used. Additionally, the program considers any part of the body that can be used as a weapon such as hands, fists, feet to be personal weapons and designates them as such in the following tables. Readers should also be aware that agencies use different methodologies for collecting and reporting officer killed data and officer assaulted data. ”

“ The crisis managers will also work with members of the FBI's Technical Services Division and the Rapid Start Team of the Information Management Division regarding technical capabilities and investigative information management. The Training Division will provide instruction on the use of less-than-lethal force. ”

“ Law enforcement agencies report the number of assaults resulting in serious injury or instances in which a weapon was used that could have caused serious injury or death. Agencies record other assaults only if they involved more than verbal abuse or minor resistance to an arrest. ”

“ The majority of federal law enforcement officers, 29.7 percent, were making arrests or serving summonses when they were assaulted. An additional 19.0 percent of the victim officers were on patrol or guard duty when they were assaulted, and 18.7 percent were assigned to protection duty. Fifteen percent of the victim officers were conducting investigations or searches at the time of their attacks; 9.9 percent of the officers were on office duty ”