Constitutional Rights
his Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, requiring police to usually have a warrant based on probable cause.
What is the Fourth Amendment
No two people have been found to have the same print pattern, making these friction ridges on fingers a primary method of identification.
What are fingerprints?
This represents the highest standard of proof in the American legal system, required to convict a defendant in a criminal trial.
What is "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"?
Operating under the Department of Justice, this agency is the primary federal investigative arm responsible for domestic counterintelligence and high-level federal crimes.
What is the FBI
This critical piece of personal protective equipment is worn under or over an officer's uniform shirt to protect them against ballistic impacts.
What is a bulletproof vest (or body armor)?
his is the standard legal warning police must read to a suspect in custody before interrogation to protect their 5th and 6th Amendment rights.
What are Miranda Rights
This unique biological material, found in blood, hair, saliva, and skin cells, can be sequenced to definitively link a suspect to a crime scene.
What is DNA?
This is the legal term for a serious crime—such as grand theft, kidnapping, or murder—that carries a punishment of one year or more in prison.
What is a felony?
This federal agency focuses primarily on preventing the illegal trafficking of firearms, explosives, and specific heavily taxed commercial goods.
What is the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)?
This law enforcement strategy emphasizes building ties and working closely with members of the public to proactively solve neighborhood safety issues.
What is Community Policing?
Established by the Supreme Court, this rule states that any evidence gathered through illegal police conduct cannot be used against a defendant in court.
What is the Exclusionary Rule?
This term refers to the meticulous, documented chronological timeline showing who collected, handled, and transferred a piece of evidence.
What is the Chain of Custody?
This is a written order issued by a judge that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a specific location or to make an arrest.
What is a warrant?
Created after the 9/11 attacks, this federal agency ensures public safety at airports and across major transit networks.
What is the TSA (Transportation Security Administration)?
This audio and video recording device is attached to an officer's uniform to ensure transparency, accountability, and evidence collection during public interactions.
What is a body-worn camera (BWC)?
This landmark 1968 Supreme Court case allows an officer to briefly detain and pat down a person for weapons if they have "reasonable suspicion" of criminal activity.
What is Terry v. Ohio
This specific subfield of forensic science analyzes firearms, bullets, and toolmarks to determine if a specific gun was used in a crime.
What is Forensic Ballistics?
Unlike "probable cause," this lower standard of proof requires a set of articulable facts that would lead a reasonable officer to suspect a crime is occurring or about to occur.
What is reasonable suspicion?
This is America's oldest federal law enforcement agency, responsible for protecting federal courts, transporting federal prisoners, and capturing fugitives.
What are the U.S. Marshals Service?
This is a guide or framework that dictates the proportional amount of force an officer may use against a resisting or aggressive subject.
What is the Use of Force Continuum?
his legal doctrine protects government officials, including law enforcement officers, from personal liability in civil lawsuits unless they violate "clearly established" statutory or constitutional rights.
What is Qualified Immunity
his forensic principle states that "every contact leaves a trace," meaning a criminal always brings something to a crime scene and leaves with something from it.
What is Locard's Exchange Principle?
In criminal law, a crime requires both an act (actus reus) and this companion concept, which translates to a "guilty mind" or criminal intent.
What is mens rea?
Headquartered in Lyon, France, this organization facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control across 196 member countries.
What is INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization)?
This policing philosophy, popularized in the 1980s, suggests that targeting visible signs of minor disorder and vandalism helps prevent more serious crimes from occurring.
What is the Broken Windows Theory?