Keeping Up with Legal Changes

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Keeping Up with Legal Changes

 

Gordon Graham
Category: Law Enforcement

Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Today’s Tip is for law enforcement officers and it deals with the importance of staying current on the law.  

Keeping up with case law is not easy. But it is very important. It will help ensure that you safeguard the rights of the citizens you serve.

Keeping up with what can seem like an ever-changing case law is not easy. But it is very important. It will help ensure that you safeguard the rights of the citizens you serve. It will increase the chances that your investigations will result in successful prosecutions. It can also save you and your agency from embarrassment and even civil liability.  

Sometimes the changes are well-publicized. Like in 2009 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Arizona v. Gant and changed the rules about when officers can search a vehicle incident to arrest.  

But much of the time, the changes occur with little fanfare. We might not notice unless we are intentionally looking.  

I am sure your department does a great job keeping you informed but I encourage you not to stop there. Do some research on your own. Find some reputable sources of information to keep you updated on the case law that affects you in your state. Attend legal update courses and read update materials as you can. 

Staying current on the law is your responsibility as a professional law enforcement officer.  

And that’s Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Gordon Graham, signing off. 

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