Page 5 - North Carolina 2020 Legal Guide

Introduction

The purpose of this manual is to provide law enforcement officers with a

reference guide to the law impacting critical tasks in law enforcement. The
guide is arranged by topic in accordance with the recurring tasks that law

enforcement officers are called upon to respond to. This guidebook will
assist officers in preparing for critical tasks as well as providing a checklist
of the necessary elements to support officer conduct. Supervisors can

utilize the guidebook to review officer actions to determine its consistency
with the law as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court as well as

the developing trends in the United States Circuit Courts of Appeal. At the
outset it should be noted states may be more restrictive in certain aspects of

the law relating to police powers based upon the state’s constitution.
Officers are advised to always be aware of state court decisions as well as
state laws that may be more restrictive on police conduct.

Note: Cites containing ___”U.S”.___ refer to U.S. Supreme Court Cases,

while those cited as “F.3d”, “F.Supp,” “F. Appx” refer to lower federal
court decisions.