Ticketed by an Officer in an Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California
I did not receive a ticket or get pulled over but I have a general question regarding an out of jurisdiction police vehicle speeding and flashing their lightbar.
I was driving home from work this afternoon when a city PD police vehicle for a city about 40 miles north and in another county was speeding in the #1 lane approx 80-90mph for at least 10 miles before I exited. It seemed like they were influencing cars to get out of that lane as well. Presumably because the cars slowed down thinking it was a police vehicle from that area. I was behind them for a while keeping a good distance. At one point they flashed their light bar for a few seconds. Not sure if directed at me or another vehicle in front of them. It didn't seem like they were on duty due to the location and the way they were driving. They had been on the freeway prior to my entry as well. This is an area that is exclusively LASD and CHP territory.
What are the general rules related to this? Were they just abusing the power of their vehicle? I don't want to take any action but it bothered me a bit that they would act this way. I captured it on my dash camera as well. Just grossly curious.
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
I think if you called up and asked you'd find that there is reciprocity between counties and cities.
The days of the Duke boys making it to the city or county line and being home free are long gone. :friendly_wink:
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
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mr.bungle
My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California
I did not receive a ticket or get pulled over but I have a general question regarding an out of jurisdiction police vehicle speeding and flashing their lightbar.
I was driving home from work this afternoon when a city PD police vehicle for a city about 40 miles north and in another county was speeding in the #1 lane approx 80-90mph for at least 10 miles before I exited. It seemed like they were influencing cars to get out of that lane as well. Presumably because the cars slowed down thinking it was a police vehicle from that area. I was behind them for a while keeping a good distance. At one point they flashed their light bar for a few seconds. Not sure if directed at me or another vehicle in front of them. It didn't seem like they were on duty due to the location and the way they were driving. They had been on the freeway prior to my entry as well. This is an area that is exclusively LASD and CHP territory.
What are the general rules related to this? Were they just abusing the power of their vehicle? I don't want to take any action but it bothered me a bit that they would act this way. I captured it on my dash camera as well. Just grossly curious.
The peace officer status for a peace officer in CA generally extends to most anywhere in the state for a public offense that occurs in his presence (pursuant to PC 830 et seq). So, if an officer from San Diego County sees you speeding or driving erratically in violation of the CVC in Sacramento County, he can detain you and even affect an arrest. (As a note, I did precisely that some many years back when I was returning from the Peace Officer memorial.)
I can get into greater detail if you'd like, but the short answer is that the officer had the authority to detain or arrest you for the offense committed in his presence.
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adjusterjack
I think if you called up and asked you'd find that there is reciprocity between counties and cities.
The days of the Duke boys making it to the city or county line and being home free are long gone. :friendly_wink:
One of the first acts by any Chief Executive in CA is that they send a letter to all the other agencies specifically granting them permission to enforce any and all laws within their jurisdiction. It simply doubles down on the authority question. Some counties go even further by having MOUs granting all other agencies within the county PRIMARY jurisdiction within their political subdivision. In other words, in San Diego County if an officer from a north county city stopped someone in San Ysidro (waaaaay in south county) they could cite into their home court in north county or book into the nearest jail and would not have to contact the nearest jurisdiction to make the custodial arrest and booking or issue the cite.
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
Disclaimer: I am not in California.
I live in an area that hovers on the line between suburban and rural. Areas of my town, and the surrounding towns, have sections that would qualify under both. A couple of months ago, we had a homicide and a massive manhunt that included a "shelter in place" order. I was still on the road, trying to get home from work, when the order went down. I was passed by police cars, lights and sirens, from two neighboring towns; my town police chief had requested assistance from several towns in the region to assist in the manhunt. Sometimes law enforcement are in jurisdictions other than their own because they've been invited there.
At least here that's true.
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
Mutual aid requests are a different animal and I believe that every state has laws that govern the establishment of that sort of authority. Some states are very much like the old "Smoky and the Bandit" moves, and when there are political rivalries there can be issues. This is not the case in CA
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
(for those who are wondering, after a chase that included officers on foot, in cars, and in helicopters, that was described statewide, in at least one national publication, and to my surprise even one international new outlet, they caught the guy)
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
Interesting. Thanks for the replies. I just think this guy was being a bit of a jackass but whatever. No harm no foul.
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
In my state, Ohio, out of jurisdiction police have no statutory authority to act as outlined, however the OSC has ruled it does not offend the state constitution's 4th AM =.
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
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adjusterjack
I think if you called up and asked you'd find that there is reciprocity between counties and cities.
The days of the Duke boys making it to the city or county line and being home free are long gone. :friendly_wink:
That varies widely by state, Jack. Some states still place a lot of stock in the idea that an officer's authority ends at the border of his jurisdiction, and not all states allow localities to enter into agreements to allow cross border primary enforcement. On the other hand, there are some states, like mine, that by statute allow all peace officers (and not all law enforcement officers count as peace officers) to enforce the law anywhere within the state, i.e. peace officers have statewide jurisdiction. And a bunch of states are somewhere in between. Because each state does this differently, this one area where you really cannot make a general statement about how it works.
Re: Out of Jurisdiction Police Vehicle
In Ohio even the State Highway Patrol can not enforce criminal laws off of state property, some exceptions though if the Governor acts on it for riots, etc.