Fellow officer breaks the law to help someone, what do you do?

Riggy

Riggy

Well-Known Member
Do you feel you should let it slide because he's helping someone out or do you feel it is your duty to step in and take action?
 
But we also have to take into account what necessitated the officer taking that action. If someone else was injured in the process or killed then it's up to you to uphold the law and report the officer or make the arrest yourself. If nothing bad resulted from the breaking of the said law then you could warn the officer that next time he does the same thing you won't be so forgiving.
 
I guess I'll rephrase my question: How far can a fellow officer go in breaking the law to help someone before you think it's too far and you need to step in to your duties? I think that might be a better question. My first one was too vague.
 
An officer is there to protect people, so if it involved breaking the law to do his /her job then the law should be irrelevant. as peoples welfare take precedence.
 
Being human and caring for people could cause an officer to pause and think that way. However there's no right way to do wrong. Following correct procedure at all times is what's expected of LEOs.
 
stevesxs9 said:
Being human and caring for people could cause an officer to pause and think that way. However there's no right way to do wrong. Following correct procedure at all times is what's expected of LEOs.
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Technically yes, however I am sure there are times when the safety of a member of the public takes precedence over a particular law. The call can be hard to make I agree.
 
If the officer was more likely off-duty and had decided to save someone who was in trouble then he or she did not break the law. If the officer had to park his or her car on the red curb to issue a traffic citation to a traffic offender then its fine. I mean the officer must do what they can to ensure that the safety of the public is met.
 
True I second you on that one, if nothing bad happened during the process, then the cop can just be warned not to do the same next time.
 
I agree that it would depend on the situation. If they are helping someone who needs it, and the law they broke isn't that serious, I think it should be alright. I agree that the cop should be warned not to do it again if the crime wasn't that serious.
 
milyjohnson said:
I agree that it would depend on the situation. If they are helping someone who needs it, and the law they broke isn't that serious, I think it should be alright. I agree that the cop should be warned not to do it again if the crime wasn't that serious.
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It would have to depend on the seriousness of the crime. Then again I would ask what crime did the particular officer commit to help save the person? If the crime was like breaking into a persons house to go after a suspect who barricaded himself inside then I would understand. I just do not know any good examples for this issue.
 
I agree that if it was for the general welfare of an individual or even group of people, the lines blur a little bit.
 
js85 said:
I agree that if it was for the general welfare of an individual or even group of people, the lines blur a little bit.
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I would believe that the lines have always been blurred. I would depend on the officers best judgement on he case matter if he or she has to break the law to save someone else.
 
I think that the world is not black and white, and we are all fallible, even law-makers. Breaking the law/rules is something that you don't want to intentionally do, but I think intent has a lot to do with it, as well as the result. Are you creating another victim in some way? Are you putting others at risk, or are you taking that risk away from others? These things have to play a factor. While I was never a cop, I was an EMT and we have very specific rules too. My instructors always had this saying, "I'd rather be judged by 12, than carried by 6" and I think that rings true.
 
I was raised to have a healthy DISRESPECT for the law. The law put black people on the back of the bus, wouldn't let women vote and these days won't let gays get married. So you can't always follow the law, especially if it's wrong. So if an officer has to break the law to do the right thing then he is ok in my book!
 
There are laws that don't make sense and sometimes even the police sees that, ultimately they are there to help people.
 
If a law is being broken to save someone's life then I think it is totally okay. Police officers bend the rules a lot, and you hardly ever hear about the times where they're doing it to help people because the community will call the cop out. I think if a cop gets in trouble for breaking the law to help someone, it only happened because people want to see some equality in how the law is supposed to be followed.
 
I think that as long as I'm absolutely sure that it harms no one and it's with the goal of helping someone in need, sometimes the best thing to do is to turn a blind eye.
Thins needs to be a sporadic thing of course, but I think humanity needs to come before blind law-enforcement.
 
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