Procedure vs Law

[EasternPromises]

When making decisions in the field, do you find yourself guided more by your knowledge of the law, or your particular department/organization's procedures?

[counihan]

When making decisions in the field, do you find yourself guided more by your knowledge of the law, or your particular department/organization's procedures?

As an officer, you really need to be aware of both the law you're enforcing AND your department's SOP's at the same time. There's a slight balance between the both of these, and whether or not you need to be mindful of each one at a given time, isn't really practical since almost every situation dictates a new response. However, officers do need to have both the law and departmental procedure in fresh memory at all times.

I'm not sure if that really answered your question, especially as far as "guided" goes. I suppose a one word answer to your question could be "both".

[Sierra]

The LAW tells me what to do, the PROCEDURE (or SOP or whatever) tells me how to do it. There really isn't a way to separate them.

[Plazoo]

The LAW tells me what to do, the PROCEDURE (or SOP or whatever) tells me how to do it. There really isn't a way to separate them.

And in addition to that, I have yet to see a departmental directive or procedure that contradicts what's laid out in state or federal law. So, as mentioned, it a combination of both.

For example, in my state, Domestic Violence incidents are a mandatory arrest. The law dictates that we are required to make an arrest during DV cases, defines the parameters of what falls under domestic violence, etc. Our department policy reinforces what state law says and gives us guidelines on how to proceed during a possible DV type case.