Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyF
Officers Mariano and Gallager both need an attitude adjustment. No argument there. In fact, by Mariano's demeanor in this one incident tells me he often uses heavy handed tactics and it's probably because he's not too bright (when all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail).
But on balance, I still maintain there is no way police officers, judges and lawyers should be expected to know every law on the books.
They should however be expected to handle situations professionally and professionalism was definitely lacking in the OCB incident on many levels.
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See, here's the thing. One concept is paramount, and it's taught in the Academy (at least, when I went). That concept is simply that whatever is not expressly prohibited by statute is legal conduct. We don't live in Louisiana; the Napoleonic Code doesn't apply.
I have to stand by my opinion that if you can't point to a statute that is being violated then probable cause plainly does not exist. Reasonable suspicion may, and certainly there's nothing wrong with extending the detention slightly to consult with someone who may know more. Where the identity of the person stopped has been well established, there is always the option of obtaining a warrant later if further research shows a law was broken.