The Community Caretaking Function
Police officers, in addition to their law enforcement duties, must engage in a Community Caretaking role. The Police Officers must ensure the welfare and safety of a community by making sure its citizens are acting safely and not endangering other citizens.
Situations that would fall under the community caretaking function include, but are not limited to the following:
a) dealing with stranded motorists
b) lost children
c) 911 calls about injured people, etc.
Generally there are three basic requirements for a situation to be admissible as a
Community Caretaking Function:
1) The officer must have reason to believe that their assistance is required to protect human life or property.
2) The officer's action must be based on the officer's subjective belief that life or property is threatened.
3) The officer's action must be within the scope of the perceived need.
If through trying to protect the community, the officer finds any evidence then it is admissible in court and there can be an arrest. However, it is not uncommon for an officer to invent a community caretaking justification for an otherwise illegal search. A qualified defense lawyer may be able to successfully argue this point and have the evidence suppressed anyway.
Posted by: J. Michael Threadgill on 2/20/2008
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