Opinion ID: 1127345
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: officer safety

Text: Nothing written here should be cited for the proposition that proper regard for officer safety might run police officers afoul of an arrestee's constitutional rights. The concerns for officer safety articulated by Terry have only increased exponentially over the years. Terry, 392 U.S. at 24 n. 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1881 n. 21. But Terry and its progeny involve contact between police and citizens in public places and upon public thoroughfares, where protection of officers may be effectuated through somewhat reduced citizen expectations of privacy. None of those cases addressed a situation where officers sought entry into a locked building when it was that very entry which would create greater danger for the officers. Officer Prahl's efforts to de-escalate tensions were admirable, but such negotiations must be upon terms which the police can ultimately honor. Implied promises to Mickelson that Officer Prahl would enter alone and that Officer Ernst would not enter were disingenuous. A degree of ruse is oft allowed, `[p]articularly, in the enforcement of vice, liquor or narcotics laws[.]' Lewis v. United States, 385 U.S. 206, 210 n. 6, 87 S.Ct. 424, 427 n. 6, 17 L.Ed.2d 312 (1966) ( quoting Model Penal Code § 2.10, comment, p. 16 (Tent.Draft No. 9, 1959)). However, the preferable course in a case like this is redemption of fundamental societal values: When a government agent presents himself to a private individual, and seeks that individual's cooperation based on his status as a government agent, the individual should be able to rely on the agent's representations. We think it clearly improper for a government agent to gain access    which would otherwise be unavailable to him by invoking the private individual's trust in his government, only to betray that trust. S.E.C. v. E.S.M. Government Securities, Inc., 645 F.2d 310, 316 (5th Cir.1981). The need for undercover operations in today's society is patent, but different factors are at play when law enforcement presents itself to a citizen qua law enforcement. When a peace officer relies upon her badge in dealing with citizens, the officer comes under a continuing obligation to pursue those dealings in an honest and straightforward fashion. Failure to do so may jeopardize the fruits of her efforts.