Peace officer

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Peace officer is a North American term for any public sector person charged with upholding the peace. It refers primarily to police officers, constables, correction officers, American sheriffs or marshals and their deputies.

Modern legal codes use the term "peace officer" as an inclusionary term for every public sector person vested by the legislating state with law enforcement authority (traditionally anyone "sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution). Hence city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, and state troopers are usually vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction. Security officers who have jurisdiction over a certain area are also considered peace officers (i.e. White Bluff Resort Security).

Jurisdictions may restrict the powers granted to those who have "peace officer status" as opposed to "police status". For example, in New York State all New York State Court Officers as well as Court Clerks assigned to the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments are classified as Peace Officers. They may execute bench warrants but are not allowed to execute arrest warrants.

1 Canada
2 See Also
3 External links
- 3.1 Peace Officer associations
  - 3.1.1 US National associations
  - 3.1.2 US State associations

[edit] Canada

Pursuant to the Criminal Code of Canada, the following persons are Peace Officers in Canada and have jurisidiction as prescribed by an Act of Parliament. Peace officer can denote a person in Canada with the right to make arrests under provincial police acts and the Canadian Criminal Code.

(a) a mayor, warden, reeve, sheriff, deputy sheriff, sheriff’s officer and justice of the peace,

(b) a member of the Correctional Service of Canada who is designated as a peace officer pursuant to Part I of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, and a warden, deputy warden, instructor, keeper, jailer, guard and any other officer or permanent employee of a prison other than a penitentiary as defined in Part I of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act,

(c) a police officer, police constable, bailiff, constable, or other person employed for the preservation and maintenance of the public peace or for the service or execution of civil process,

(d) an officer within the meaning of the Customs Act, the Excise Act or the Excise Act, 2001, or a person having the powers of such an officer, when performing any duty in the administration of any of those Acts,

(d.1) an officer authorized under subsection 138(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,

(e) a person designated as a fishery guardian under the Fisheries Act when performing any duties or functions under that Act and a person designated as a fishery officer under the Fisheries Act when performing any duties or functions under that Act or the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act,

(f) the pilot in command of an aircraft

(i) registered in Canada under regulations made under the Aeronautics Act, or

(ii) leased without crew and operated by a person who is qualified under regulations made under the Aeronautics Act to be registered as owner of an aircraft registered in Canada under those regulations,

while the aircraft is in flight, and

(g) officers and non-commissioned members of the Canadian Forces who are

(i) appointed for the purposes of section 156 of the National Defence Act, or

(ii) employed on duties that the Governor in Council, in regulations made under the National Defence Act for the purposes of this paragraph, has prescribed to be of such a kind as to necessitate that the officers and non-commissioned members performing them have the powers of peace officers;

[All members of the Canadian Forces have Peace officer power while they are engaging in "in the course of any military operation, training or administration, either as a result of a specific order or established military custom or practice".]