ABSTRACT
Much of the training that police officers receive in the academy as well as in-service classes relates to the law. The authority of the police officer derives from the law, but the law also sets limits on his or her powers. The source of our rights against police power comes from the federal Constitution's Bill of Rights, state constitutions, and case holdings that have interpreted these legal documents. When police stop someone on the street and ask what they are doing, it is a consent stop unless the individual is not free to leave. The Supreme Court has allowed police departments to engage in 'fixed checkpoints' or 'sobriety checkpoints' to protect us from drunk drivers. In 1961, in Mapp v. Ohio the Court extended the exclusionary rule to state and local police as well. To measure the effect of gun control laws, researchers compare jurisdictions with stricter gun control laws to those with looser laws.
