how are police activities controlled by the law?

Answer 1

They are not, they are above and beyond the reach of the law.

Answer 2

My actions are controlled by my standards of honesty, integrity, and the oath I take upon pinning my badge on. Then there's also the same laws everyone else is bound to adhere to. In my state, other laws apply when a police officer misuses his authority for personal gain.

Answer 3

All that looks great on paper and to people that don't live in the real world.. But there is also a saying that we protect our own and the Blue wall of silence.
If i were to drink tonight and drove an auto, i would get a DUI, if an off duty cop done the same thing, only a little drunker, he would show his badge and be on his way, that's a fact of life.

Answer 4

There are myriad ways that police activities are controlled by law.

For example, even though I am a law enforcement officer, when I am out and about as a civilian, any officer from any agency can hold me accountable to the law just like anyone else.

But there are five major ways that police activities are monitored to be lawful.

1. Extensive background checks and strict hiring and training requirements.
2. Intra-agency infrastructure designed to monitor and limit a cop's behavior.
3. "Internal Affairs" divisions within particular agencies.
4. Agencies with greater jurisdiction have power over local agencies.
5. The public holds law officers accountable the same way the public holds other civilians accountable: by using the judicial legal system to challenge and punish behavior outside the law (and even to affect law where they law is unclear or faulty).

Details:

1. Extensive background checks and strict hiring and training requirements.

When I was hired into law enforcement, the agency called up people I knew in college and asked them questions about what kind of officer I would make. They are still in the process of gathering criminal record checks from every county in the USA I've ever lived in, and some from outside the country besides.

This extensive background checking helps ensure that hired officers are upstanding citizens who value the law and operate within the law. But because it is not perfect, there are additional ways that police are monitored by law...

2. Intra-agency infrastructure designed to monitor and limit a cop's behavior.

Currently I work in a jail. I've been offered $100 and more for a single cigarette by inmates. So what's to keep me or other officers from breaking the law to make some extra dough? Simple. There are cameras all over the jail. Not just on the inmates, but on the officers as well. The Sheriff can, at any time, pull up any camera in the jail from his computer at work or his computer at home, and see what every officer and inmate is doing.

Also in our agency, there are computers called "silent sergeants" built into the patrol cars. They automatically inform your superiors if the patrol car goes over a certain speed, and it is necessary to fill out a report to explain why the officer needed to go so fast, even if it was part of a legitimate law-enforcement operation.

3. "Internal Affairs" divisions within particular agencies.

Large agencies often have a full division assigned to monitoring the behavior of other officers within the agency. The requirements and background checks for Internal Affairs are even stricter than for normal law enforcement.

4. Agencies with greater jurisdiction have power over local agencies.

Just because someone is a law enforcement officer doesn't make him "above" the law in any sense. Even carrying out the duties of law enforcement, city and county police can catch and arrest each other for illegal activity. State agencies (such as the SBI in North Carolina) have jurisdiction over all local law enforcement, and the FBI has greater authority still.

5. The public holds law officers accountable the same way the public holds other civilians accountable: by using the judicial legal system to challenge and punish behavior outside the law (and even to affect law where they law is unclear or faulty).

Extensive training for law enforcement includes class after class after class. Many of these classes focus a great deal of the time on "HOW NOT TO GET SUED" as a law enforcement officer; or at least, how not to act that would cause you to lose a lawsuit.

As an officer, you are taught that it is INEVITABLE you will get sued in your career. Law Enforcement officers are held to a much higher standard than the public at large, and everywhere you go people are watching you, judging you.

Even if I'm completely off duty, if I'm in a training tshirt that has "Sheriff's Department" printed on it, if someone starts to choke in a restaurant and I don't help, I can and will be sued. Every single person in that restaurant knows I have been trained in first aid. If I didn't help, that's a law suit I would lose. So much the worse if I were in uniform.

As a law enforcement officer, it is paramount that you know and understand the law and follow it to the letter.

Are there dirty cops? Yeah. There are dirty cops. But every time you hear about dirty cops, it's because they got caught. And it's far worse for a cop who gets caught breaking the law than a regular civilian.

Answer 5

Its what is called Civil Law, they are asked to obey it also. It is part of the Checks and Balances of any working democratic republic.

Answer 6

By acts a code of conduct and the law....

Answer 7

how about some more specifics.