Today while having lunch in Cabbarrus county I observed a Charlotte-Mecklenburg cop leaving the shopping center. That got me thinking what is the limits of authority from a county/city cop out of their normal jurisdiction?

Is there a line for which if they witness an infraction they can step in and make an arrest/stop while awaiting for local authorities.

- For example I once drove behind a SC cop while on US-74 heading into Wilmington.
Potentially could he have pulled me if I cruised by at 20-over?

- What about if I appeared to be drunk driving?

- Back to the Char-Meck cop in Cabbarrus county what if someone in the shopping center appeared to make a drug trade.

- At its worst what about if the Char-Meck cop witnessed a robbery in progress at the shopping center.

[Edited on April 9, 2012 at 1:53 PM. Reason : a]

[Edited on April 9, 2012 at 1:54 PM. Reason : d]

4/9/2012 1:48:56 PM

i once got pulled coming into raleigh from cary (in raleighs city limits) by a morrisville cop for an unsafe movement.

he pulled me and called a raleigh cop to give me the ticket.

4/9/2012 2:04:12 PM

"Police discretion" is the term here. I believe there is something about protecting the public safety that permits cops to do stuff outside their normal jurisdictional boundaries....HUGE gray area here

4/9/2012 2:10:18 PM

Around here officer from town A calls to dispatch asking for mutual aid request from town B, officer from Town B hears it (same freq/channel/tg) and says yes (never heard it denied) and then officer from Town A lights you up. If they observe a violation in their town then follow into another they may go a mile or two before requesting backup and it's generally handed over to lead officer in current town.

4/9/2012 2:25:11 PM

Why would these cops pull you?

Just get a tow truck if you need to be pulled somewhere.

4/9/2012 4:20:04 PM

does officer A actually have the authority to detain you until officer B arrives or are you just waiting there because you feel like you should when they ask you to?

4/9/2012 4:25:59 PM

We can't do anything beyond the blue line. Otherwise we have to call another agency to do something.

Those agencies of course won't be mad if we do something for the better and call them and request their help and for them to take the lead.

4/9/2012 11:43:30 PM

In NC, an officer has authority only in their town/city limits and 1 mile from those limits and in/on property owned or leased by their city/town/etc. Same goes for the county except they can serve a felony warrant outside of their county if the offense occurred in their county.

The only exception is hot pursuit of a suspect i.e. you chase someone into another county you can arrest them as long you stay in continual pursuit.

As far as being off duty, if you are outside of your city/town limits, you have ZERO authority to enforce the law outside of what an ordinary citizen can do. The exception would be if you had statewide jurisdiction such as the ALE which can enforce any law anywhere in the state.

Some agencies like Wildlife have statewide jurisdiction, but can only enforce non-wildlife statutes if they come about those violations during the course of their duties. For example, a wildlife officer is driving down the road on the way home from work and sees a drug deal go down – too bad, so sad.

Mutual aid agreements have to be written and each time it is used, a formal request must be made by the requesting agency (something such as an DCI - it’s like instant messaging - would suffice and it must come from the person currently in charge of the agency at that time i.e. watch commander. It prevents people from just driving into another city and enforcing the law.

4/10/2012 7:23:22 AM

What if you were off duty visiting your sister a county over and drive up to see the neighbor being assaulted by a fellow while checking the mail. Can you detain that person and wait for the local authorities to show up.

4/10/2012 8:58:08 AM

i got pulled by a swat team undercover cop for changing lanes too quickly

i didn't know he was following me and got a few cars ahead of him from an intersection

he called in the cavalry to write me up

6 sheriff officers and a state trooper showed up to assist

4/10/2012 9:10:10 AM

Changing lanes to quickly is a crime? What a prick

4/10/2012 9:26:39 AM

^ Its a big grey area, but yeah. What if you have two bozos driving like jackasses who try to change lanes at the same time right into each other? That's why you're supposed to do it gradually.

I actually wish cops would give out more tickets for that kind of crap (especially tailgating) than for speeding, but speeding is easier to measure and take to court so that's what they give tickets out for.

4/10/2012 9:46:10 AM

What the fuck is Cabbarrus county you fuck

4/10/2012 10:04:40 AM

Nothing wrong with writing a ticket for that. That's where most accidents happen when someone is in your blind spot. Changing lanes slowly allows the other person to lay on their horn and let you know you're about to hit them. I like to think I'm a great driver, but every now and then I don't check the blind spot and something like this happens. If I had been changing lanes quickly, there would have been an accident.

4/10/2012 10:24:56 AM

I'd like to punch people in the face who position themselves in my blind spot for any lengthy time period. I mean seriously, who the fuck thinks it's a good idea to get in the blind spot of a Toyota Tundra for more than 10 seconds or so when you're driving a god damn Ford Taurus.

4/10/2012 10:42:21 AM

Quote :

"I'd like to punch people in the face who position themselves in my blind spot for any lengthy time period. I mean seriously, who the fuck thinks it's a good idea to get in the blind spot of a Toyota Tundra for more than 10 seconds or so when you're driving a god damn Ford Taurus don't check their blind spots."

ftfy

4/10/2012 10:45:52 AM

I about got killed on I-40 this morning when some bitch didn't look before changing lanes and quickly tried to merge into me. She even kept coming when I was honking the horn and hitting the brakes.

4/10/2012 10:53:43 AM

I know this is going to be a really hard concept for you, but concentrate real hard and you might just get it. They are called blind spots for a reason.

You see, some trucks are really high up off the ground, and the way the mirrors are positioned, it is just not possible to see a car that sits low to the ground on the passenger side. It's as if it's not there, hence why this spot is referred to as a "blind spot". Pretty neat eh? So no matter what I do, whether it be looking over, adjusting my rear/side mirrors, or praying to sweet Baby Jesus, I still cannot see some cars. Thus, the onus lies on the driver of the tiny car to not be retarded and position himself in this spot for a significant period of time. Either speed up and pass or slow down - those are two excellent choices, but staying in a spot that you know another driver can't possibly see is just stupid.

4/10/2012 10:54:03 AM

Quote :

"You see, some trucks are really high up off the ground, and the way the mirrors are positioned, it is just not possible to see a car that sits low to the ground on the passenger side."

You see, this sounds like your problem, not theirs.

4/10/2012 11:25:57 AM

Quote :

"What if you were off duty visiting your sister a county over and drive up to see the neighbor being assaulted by a fellow while checking the mail. Can you detain that person and wait for the local authorities to show up."

Quote :

"As far as being off duty, if you are outside of your city/town limits, you have ZERO authority to enforce the law outside of what an ordinary citizen can do."

4/10/2012 11:54:11 AM

i know that if you are in pursuit and the criminal crosses state lines you can alert dispatch for permission to keep chasing him. I saw that on an episode of cops

4/10/2012 11:59:22 AM

Quote :

"Today while having lunch in Cabbarrus county I observed a Charlotte-Mecklenburg cop leaving the shopping center."

heaven forbid a police officer live in a different town from where he works.

4/10/2012 12:12:05 PM

Quote :

"You see, this sounds like your problem, not theirs."

Why don't you go drive around on the interstate for a while, perhaps in the blind spot of a big semi for several minutes. Wait awhile until you're positive the driver has no idea that you're there. Then, wait until he decides to change lanes. Come back here and post exactly whose problem that is.

4/10/2012 12:20:07 PM

Oh, yeah well I've been on the interstate and I've had trucks attempt to change lanes when I was in full view. Your argument is you drive a big truck and so people should avoid your blind spot because of the vehicle you chose. I'm saying you chose to drive a big truck and it's on you to be more aware of it. Get yourself a fisheye mirror if it's a real problem. You might as well say people should stay out of a person's way because they're texting or talking on the phone while they're driving.

4/10/2012 5:52:26 PM