A law enforcement officer (LEO),[1] or police officer or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector or private-sectoremployee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws, protecting life & property, keeping the peace, and other public safety related duties. Law enforcement officers are designated certain powers & authority by law to allow them to carry out their responsibilities.
Modern legal codes use the term peace officer (or in some jurisdictions, law enforcement officer) to include every person vested by the legislating state with law enforcement authority. Traditionally, anyone "sworn, badged, and armable"[citation needed] who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution. Security officers may enforce certain laws and administrative regulations, which may include detainment or apprehension authority, including arresting in some jurisdictions. Peace officers may also be able to perform all duties that a law enforcement officer is tasked with, but may or may not be armed with a weapon.[citation needed] The term peace officer in some jurisdictions is interchangeable with law enforcement officer or police officer, but in others peace officer is a totally separate legal designation with quasi-police powers.
Canada
In Canada, the Criminal Code (R.S., c. C-34, s. 2.) defines a peace officer as:
(b) a member of the Correctional Service of Canada who is designated as a peace officer pursuant to Part I of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, and a warden, deputy warden, instructor, keeper, jailer, guard and any other officer or permanent employee of a prison other than a penitentiary as defined in Part I of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act,
(c) a police officer, police constable, bailiff, constable, or other person employed for the preservation and maintenance of the public peace or the service or execution of civil process,
(d) an officer within the meaning of the Customs Act, the Excise Act or the Excise Act, 2001, or a person having the powers of such an officer, when performing any duty in the administration of any of those Acts,
(e) a person designated as a fishery guardian under the Fisheries Act when performing any duties or functions under that Act and a person designated as a fishery officer under the Fisheries Act when performing any duties or functions under that Act or the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act,
(f) the pilot in command of an aircraft
(i) registered in Canada under regulations made under the Aeronautics Act, or
(ii) leased without crew and operated by a person who is qualified under regulations made under the Aeronautics Act to be registered as the owner of an aircraft registered in Canada under those regulations, while the aircraft is in flight, and
(g) officers and non-commissioned members of the Canadian Forces who are
(ii) employed on duties that the Governor in Council, in regulations made under the National Defence Act for this paragraph, has prescribed to be of such a kind as to necessitate that the officers and non-commissioned members performing them have the powers of peace officers;
Section (b) allows for designation as a peace officer for a member of the Correctional Service of Canada under the following via the Corrections and Conditional Release Act:[2]
*10. The Commissioner may in writing designate any staff member, either by name or by class, to be a peace officer, and a staff member so designated has all the powers, authority, protection and privileges that a peace officer has by law in respect of
(a) an offender subject to a warrant or an order for long-term supervision; and
(b) any person, while the person is in a penitentiary.
Also, provincial legislatures can designate a class of officers (i.e. Conservation Officers, Park Rangers and Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement) to be peace officers.
United States
United States federal law enforcement personnel include but are not limited to the following:[3][4]
In addition, many departments in the U.S. Federal Government contain Inspector Generals who are able to appoint criminal investigators to work under them.
Arizona Revised Statutes defines a peace officer in Title 13, Section 105, as "any person vested by law with a duty to maintain public order and make arrests and includes a constable." Title 1, Section 215(27) enumerates those who are peace officers in the State of Arizona. It includes:
peace officers who are appointed by a multi-county water conservation district and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board
police officers who are appointed by community college district governing boards and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board
police officers who are appointed by the Arizona board of regents and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board
police officers who are appointed by the governing body of a public airport according to section 28-8426 and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board
peace officers who are appointed by a private post-secondary institution under section 15-1897 and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board
special agents from the office of the attorney general, or of a county attorney, and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board
Arizona Revised Statutes 41-1823 states that except for duly elected or appointed sheriffs and constables, and probation officers in the course of their duties, no person may exercise the authority or perform the duties of a peace officer unless he is certified by the Arizona peace officers standards and training board.
California
Sections 830 through 831.7 of the California Penal Code[5]
list persons who are considered peace officers within the State of California. Peace officers include, in addition to many others,
Police; sheriffs, undersheriffs, and their deputies. (§ 830.1[a])
A security officer for a private university or college deputized or appointed as a reserve deputy sheriff or police officer. (§ 830.75)[7]
Most peace officers have jurisdiction throughout the state, but many have limited powers outside their political subdivisions. Some peace officers require special permission to carry firearms. Powers are often limited to the performance of peace officers' primary duties (usually, enforcement of specific laws within their political subdivision); however, most have power of arrest anywhere in the state for any public offense[8]
that poses an immediate danger to a person or property.
A private person (i.e., ordinary citizen) may arrest another person for an offense committed in the arresting person's presence, or if the other person has committed a felony whether or not in the arresting person's presence (Penal Code § 837),[9] though such an arrest when an offense has not occurred leaves a private person open to criminal prosecution and civil liability for false arrest. A peace officer may:
without an arrest warrant, arrest a person on probable cause that the person has committed an offense in the officer's presence, or if there is probable cause that a felony has been committed and the officer has probable cause to believe the person to be arrested committed the felony. (Penal Code § 836).[10]
Is immune from civil liability for false arrest if, at the time of arrest, the officer had probable cause to believe the arrest was lawful.
Persons are required to comply with certain instructions given by a peace officer, and certain acts (e.g., battery) committed against a peace officer carry more severe penalties than the same acts against a private person. It is unlawful to resist, delay, or obstruct a peace officer in the course of the officer's duties (Penal Code § 148[a][1]).[11]
New York State grants peace officers very specific powers under NYS Criminal Procedure Law, that they may make warrantless arrests, use physical and deadly force, and issue summonses under section 2.20 of that law.[12]
There is a full list of peace officers under Section 2.10 of that law.[12] Below are some examples.
That state has law enforcement agencies contained within existing executive branch departments that employ sworn peace officers to investigate and enforce laws specifically related to the department. Most often, these departments employ sworn Investigators (separate from the New York State Police) that have statewide investigative authority under the department's mission.
The New York State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) is a state investigative agency housed under the State Department of Health. Narcotic Investigators with the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement are sworn peace officers who carry firearms, make arrests, and enforce the New York State Controlled Substances Act, New York State Penal Law, and New York State Public Health Law.
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance employs sworn peace officers as Excise Tax Investigators and Revenue Crimes Investigators. These State Investigators carry firearms, make arrests, and enforce New York State Penal Law related to tax evasion and other crimes. Excise Tax Investigators may execute Search Warrants.
Texas Statutes,[13] Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 2.12, provides:
Art. 2.12, WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace officers:
(1) sheriffs, their deputies, and those reserve deputies who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(2) constables, deputy constables, and those reserve deputy constables who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated city, town, or village, and those reserve municipal police officers who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(11) airport police officers commissioned by a city with a population of more than 1.18 million that operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
(12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
(13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and security officers;
(14) security officers and investigators commissioned as peace officers by the comptroller;
(15) officers commissioned by a water control and improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
(16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees under Chapter 54, Transportation Code;
(21) officers commissioned under Chapter 554, Occupations Code;
(22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108, Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority under Section 452.110, Transportation Code;
(23) investigators commissioned by the attorney general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
(24) security officers and investigators commissioned as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
(26) officers appointed by an appellate court under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
(27) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code;
(28) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner of insurance under Section 701.104, Insurance Code;
(29) apprehension specialists and inspectors general commissioned by the Texas Youth Commission as officers under Sections 61.0451 and 61.0931, Human Resources Code;
(32) commission investigators commissioned by the Texas Private Security Board under Section 1702.061(f), Occupations Code;
(33) the fire marshal and any officers, inspectors, or investigators commissioned by an emergency services district under Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code;
(34) officers commissioned by the State Board of Dental Examiners under Section 254.013, Occupations Code, subject to the limitations imposed by that section; and
