Can a police officer make an arrest out of uniform?

0 votes
asked 3 days ago in Law Enforcement/Police by ucpre2060 (780 points)
Can a police officer make an arrest out of uniform?

1 Answer

0 votes
answered 3 days ago by TimmyLee (3,160 points)
A police officer can make an arrest out of uniform as they often do when undercover.

If a police officer is working undercover the badge will often be hidden somewhere such as under a shirt on the pants on a belt or even on a necklace like thing they wear around their neck and the badge will be tucked down in their shirt.

If making an arrest the undercover officer will often show the badge to indicate they are a police officer.

Also even an off duty police officer that is in their own plain clothes can also make arrests when out of uniform but only in their jurisdiction and county.

The same is true with on duty police they can only make arrest within their jurisdiction.

For example another county police cannot make arrest in a different county that they don't work for although state troopers can make arrests statewide.

An off duty cop can arrest you as police officers do still retain their authority to make arrests when off duty.

Although the off duty cop can only arrest you under their jurisdiction in the county they work for and not in another county.

The authority of the off duty cop also is often limited by the police departments policies and specific circumstance.

Most often an off duty cop can arrest you if they witness you committing a crime or they are pursuing you as a fleeing suspect or there is a risk of immediate danger.

Police offers generally still have the same arrest powers when on and off duty.

A police officer can do some things when off duty, although when off duty the police have limited authority.

When a police officer is off duty the police has some limited authority and most particularly related to public safety.

Off duty police can still often make arrests, use force when necessary and even carry guns, although with some restrictions.

Off duty police cannot use their authority to initiate enforcement for minor crimes like reckless driving or minor property crimes.

Although a police officer can only do these things under their jurisdiction and county.

Even an on duty police officer that is not a state trooper cannot go into another county and do anything as a police officer.

The police even when on duty is limited to their county for jurisdiction and they are only police officers legally in their county.

Although state troopers have jurisdiction when on duty in all counties of the state they are working in.

But as soon as that state trooper leaves their state they are no longer legally a police officer or state trooper in the other state and cannot make arrests or do any traffic stops or act as police.

Police officers only have powers in the jurisdiction they are hired in and not other counties or states.

State troopers have authority in all counties in their state but not in other states.

Off duty police have a general duty to protect public safety and intervene in situations where a crime is being committed or lives and property are endangered.

Off duty officers can also be hired by private employers to maintain order, provide law enforcement functions or provide pedestrian control and traffic control.

109,080 questions

119,709 answers

1,362 comments

7,058,598 users

...