First off, I most certainly did not take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I am a certified Peace Officer in the state of Georgia, and I took an oath to serve and protect the citizens of DeKalb County.
However, I have taken classes on constitutional law, and, as I have stated numerous times, thus far the right of Police Officers to require people to display this far been upheld by the court. I have also read the constitution many times. I realize that the position of Police Officer only requires that a person hold a GED, but I do have a Masters Degree in English Literature, so being treated like someone who hasn't bothered to study the defining tenets of her profession frankly offends me more than the guy who said he wanted me to die.
The police officer, by the way, did the absolute first thing that we are taught to do in a domestic situation -- separate the involved parties and keep them separated until backup arrives. Any domestic violence call is a situation in which you are assigned automatic backup, because they are among the most dangerous and volatile situations a police officers faces every day.
I am not now, nor have I ever been a "drone of the state." I enforce the law as reasonably and fairly as I am able. Would I have handled the situation exactly as the officer in Nevada did? It's hard to say -- every officer is different. As for whether or not requiring a person to show ID violates the fourth amendment, I'll let the Supreme Court decide.
Perhaps I wasn't entirely clear. A certified peace officer has the right to ask you to display your ID when you are in any public place within that officer's jurisdiction.
I don't have the right to ask you any question that I want, nor do you have to answer any question that I ask you. The only thing you are legally obligated to provide is your identification (or, lacking that, your name and date of birth). I certainly never stated that the police have the right to know everything.
You have the right to refuse consent to search and even if you originally give consent, you can revoke that consent at any time during the search.
If an officer uses force on a person without cause, not only does the department suspend, if not terminate, us, but you also have the right to sue us in state and federal court. The county will not raise a finger in our defense in said courts if we have violated policy.
Kicking the crap out of someone just for verbal abuse isn't worth my spending the rest of my life in a federal prison, making your family wealthy. (difficult as it may be to make anyone wealthy on an officer's salary).
The law applies to pedestrians, as well as anyone traveling in a motor vehicle. It applies to anyone in a "public place," which I defined in the previous entry.
If the Supreme Court declares the law unconstitutional, then it will be repealed and I will no longer enforce it. I don't make the laws, that's not my job. I enforce them to the best of my ability under the circumstances I am given.
I don't recall making any statement as to my particular feelings about the law. I am interested, as many are, to see what the Supreme Court says about the matter. In the past, the law has been held up as constitutional.
For now, however, not answering questions -- specifically, not answering the question of your identity --/is/ a crime. Even your right to plead the fifth amendment does not preclude you from having to state your own name.
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First off, I most certainly did not take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I am a certified Peace Officer in the state of Georgia, and I took an oath to serve and protect the citizens of DeKalb County. However, I have taken classes on constitutional law, and, as I have stated numerous times, thus far the right of Police Officers to require people to display this far been upheld by the court. I have also read the constitution many times. I realize that the position of Police Officer only requires that a person hold a GED, but I do have a Masters Degree in English Literature, so being treated like someone who hasn't bothered to study the defining tenets of her profession frankly offends me more than the guy who said he wanted me to die. The police officer, by the way, did the absolute first thing that we are taught to do in a domestic situation -- separate the involved parties and keep them separated until backup arrives. Any domestic violence call is a situation in which you are assigned automatic backup, because they are among the most dangerous and volatile situations a police officers faces every day. I am not now, nor have I ever been a "drone of the state." I enforce the law as reasonably and fairly as I am able. Would I have handled the situation exactly as the officer in Nevada did? It's hard to say -- every officer is different. As for whether or not requiring a person to show ID violates the fourth amendment, I'll let the Supreme Court decide.
Perhaps I wasn't entirely clear. A certified peace officer has the right to ask you to display your ID when you are in any public place within that officer's jurisdiction. I don't have the right to ask you any question that I want, nor do you have to answer any question that I ask you. The only thing you are legally obligated to provide is your identification (or, lacking that, your name and date of birth). I certainly never stated that the police have the right to know everything. You have the right to refuse consent to search and even if you originally give consent, you can revoke that consent at any time during the search.
If an officer uses force on a person without cause, not only does the department suspend, if not terminate, us, but you also have the right to sue us in state and federal court. The county will not raise a finger in our defense in said courts if we have violated policy. Kicking the crap out of someone just for verbal abuse isn't worth my spending the rest of my life in a federal prison, making your family wealthy. (difficult as it may be to make anyone wealthy on an officer's salary).
The law applies to pedestrians, as well as anyone traveling in a motor vehicle. It applies to anyone in a "public place," which I defined in the previous entry. If the Supreme Court declares the law unconstitutional, then it will be repealed and I will no longer enforce it. I don't make the laws, that's not my job. I enforce them to the best of my ability under the circumstances I am given. I don't recall making any statement as to my particular feelings about the law. I am interested, as many are, to see what the Supreme Court says about the matter. In the past, the law has been held up as constitutional. For now, however, not answering questions -- specifically, not answering the question of your identity -- /is/ a crime. Even your right to plead the fifth amendment does not preclude you from having to state your own name.