Talk:Law enforcement officer

Peace Officer (Canada)

In Canada, POs are specifically designated; not all law enforcements are peace officers but all peace officers are (or can be) law enforcement officers.

For example, a liquor inspector or gaming commission inspector is a law enforcement officer but they are generally not designated as peace officer (as they do not require the power of arrest or use of force).

I suggest separating the article and move the Canadian portion into a new article.--Cahk (talk) 22:14, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

Another option would be to move the page to Peace officer and redirect from Law enforcement officer. But that would be an imperfect solution at best; “peace officer” is more common in U.S. statutory law, but is by no means predominant. Perhaps a greater issue: there actually are countries other than Canada and the U.S. How many articles should there be? JeffConrad (talk) 01:27, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps a simpler option, at least for now: how about adding this material to the section on Canada? JeffConrad (talk) 03:25, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

The whole article is largely concerned with US practice and usage, and has been tagged as such (not by me.) The term "peace officer" is unknown in British usage, and even "law enforcement officer" is rarely used. We generally just call 'em "police", though the arrival of PCSOs has muddied the water somewhat. --Ef80 (talk) 13:55, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Lists of who are peace officers

Are we getting carried away? The 2 November edit by Neutrality quoted the entire list of peace officers from the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Would it not be better to give a few examples and state that the entire list could be found in the appropriate statute, as is done for California and New York? What if someone were to include the entire list of peace officers from the California Penal Code? And then other states? And then similar subdivisions of other countries?

Another approach for Texas (and perhaps any other jurisdiction for which it is desired to list all peace officers) would be to follow the examples for New York by keeping the list short here and pointing the reader to a more expansive main article. JeffConrad (talk) 10:20, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

I know the term peace officer extends ot many different people, but surely the list isn't infinite? There can't be more than say 50 people in each state? I know each state has different officers, but they are surely named similar things? leopheard (talk) 15:17, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

Guys, you are living in past. Its possible that our police used to be peace officers where term peace imply peace, however today we only have law enforcement officers. The point is if police kills people, enforce laws it has nothing to do with peace but has everything to do with civil war. My example is Great Britain where poce do not carry guns and as such carry policing as was originally intended when term originated. Get real and separate two words.

Recommend Speedy Deletion for the term "sworn officer." Although it's widely used, it's a misnomer, as well as misleading.

The idea of limiting this term to law enforcement officers is ludicrous. The term originally applied, and still does, to military officers who swore an oath of office. By limiting the term "sworn officer" to law enforcement officers, it creates the false impression that only law enforcement officers swear an oath. The commissioning source for military officers is the President of the United States, as required by the nature of their duties and responsibilities, which often affect the lives of dozens, and sometimes thousands or even tens of thousands of service members, enemy combatants, and non-combatants. I strongly recommend speedy deletion. An article for Law enforcement officer already exists, as does Military Officer.11:59, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

I disagree. By your analogy, lawyers, members of parliament/congree are also sworn officer because they swear an oath. --Cahk (talk) 16:10, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

History of the term LEO "Law Enforcement Officer"

Does anybody know when the term "LEO" and phrase "Law Enforcement Officer" came into common usage? I am 65 years old, living in the USA, and I do not recall seeing or hearing either either of those terms in the media until the Reagan years, at the earliest, maybe mid-Clinton years. Until I was about 45 or 50 the media used words like Sheriff, Deputy, Police Officer, cop, police authorities, peace officers, and sometimes SWAT after about 1975 when I was in my late twenties. Now I am seeing "Law enforcement officer" in the media every day. Maybe I'm getting senile? ScooterCatter ^{Talk to me} 22:25, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Acronym

Resolved

Can we have a reference please that the acronym LEO is in general use. (I don't like making up acronyms just for the sake of it.) Mitch Ames (talk) 13:03, 10 October 2013 (UTC)

Some examples of the acronymn in use: US government website, American college, official state website, another government website. Take your pick. And then there's the fact it's been added four separate times to the dab page...not a source in itself but it does show people seem to know the term. — Reatlas (talk) 14:55, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

I've added a ref to the article. Mitch Ames (talk) 03:27, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Invalid arrest authority information - Security Officers

"Contract security officers may enforce certain laws and administrative regulations, which may include detainment or apprehension authority, but not arresting."

This is not accurate. California does not allow detainment or apprehension, however does allow arrests. Many other states in the U.S. allow one, the other, or both. Some states also grant differing levels of Peace Officer/Law Enforcement Officer authority to contracted private security personnel, depending on state and local laws. (This is usually done by some sort of Department of Justice or Department of Public Safety-like authority in those states).

Some states additionally have government-based public security services offered by local law enforcement agencies, usually to protect government buildings and the like. Some of these can be considered Law Enforcement Officer positions, whereas others aren't. The information presented in the above reference is highly misleading and legally incorrect. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:204:C103:76BE:BC26:44C6:2C2A:9933 (talk) 01:01, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

Edit: Reference for information: Security_guard#Security_officers_and_the_police — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:204:C103:76BE:BC26:44C6:2C2A:9933 (talk) 01:05, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

Very late reply, but I think we should avoid the topic of security guards altogether, apart from perhaps a quick mention, which is the direction this article appear to have taken, anyways.

You will be hard-pressed to find ANY authority (in the US) that designates security guards as ‘law enforcement officers,’ even if they have arrest authority or limited LE powers. MWFwiki (talk) 09:41, 21 January 2022 (UTC)

US Federal Law Enforcement Officers

Shouldn’t the list of federal law enforcement officers under the United States heading include the US Marshal Service Special Agents? It includes the Federal Air Marshals, but the USMS is a distinct federal law enforcement organization.

See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marshals_Service Jw289 (talk) 03:47, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

Also, items 5 and 16 on the list are redundant. The DHS TSA marshals of item 16 are the federal Air Marshals of item 5. Jw289 (talk) 03:51, 11 June 2022 (UTC)