Policing Within The Constitution – Part 1

§ 49-1. Form of general oath required of officers.

Every person before entering upon the discharge of any function as an officer of this Commonwealth shall take and subscribe the following oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the
United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that
I will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon me
as ………. according to the best of my ability, (so help me God).”

So, you want to be successful as a police officer in the United States.  This is where you begin, the US Constitution and your State’s Constitution.  When I actively trained new police officers for a department I worked in, I did not review officer safety; I did not review traffic laws; I did not review criminal laws.  When that new police officer, fresh out of the academy came to me, full of adrenalin, ready to chase down the bad guy or kick in a door, I slowed them down.  They did not like my part of their field training, but after they passed my phase of training, they learned the things that would keep them or the department from getting sued.

The above oath of office is administered to officers in my beloved home state, Virginia.  I take this oath very seriously, and I expected my trainee to do so as well. Upholding the Constitution does not always mean doing the fun thing, but it does mean always doing the right thing.  I believe the success of any law enforcement officer is to know and understand this, and live it out in the performance of duty.  Sometimes, the bad guy gets to walk away.  That is okay; because, for the bad guy to be able to continue to remain free and stay bad, he has to be great at what he does ALL the time.  For me to catch the bad guy, I have to be good only ONCE.  I tried to impart this small piece of wisdom with every new police officer I trained.

Sometimes the system seems unfair.  I have heard this from not only young police officers, but citizens as well.  The system seems to work in favor of the suspect/bad guy/defendant.  That is in fact, the truth. This nation was founded on certain principles, principles that were not practiced in nations from which our founders left.  I try to educate citizens and simply ask them to, for one second, imagine they were the person under arrest.  Would they not want every protection afforded to them to ensure a fair trial, to not be compelled to make an incriminating statement, to be guaranteed fair and adequate representation, to be tried by a jury of peers, to be guaranteed a fair, expedient and impartial trial?  Inevitably, the answer was always, “Yes, but . . .”

I understand the “but”; the victim has in some way been injured and wants justice. Having this understanding, I further educated them by simply telling them that if I follow the rules, do what I am allowed to do by applicable law and the Constitution, when we do go to court we have a greater chance at justice being served.  It is not always easy for the victim to understand these principles, but I have had some victims that turned offender, and suddenly they did understand.

With this, I begin a series on “Policing within the Constitution”. I am not an expert, by definition. I am a practitioner. I have done well, and been successful; I have also made mistakes, and fortunately, learned from them. This series is for those practitioners and citizens alike. It is our duty as Americans, to know what this document means to a free society. Virginia has even granted its citizens the right to resist an unlawful arrest when there is some error on the part of the government official (Polk v. Commonwealth, 4 Va. App. 590, 596, 358 S.E.2d 770, 773 (1987; reaffirmed Brown v Commonwealth (1998)).  The importance of this information cannot be over stressed.  Our freedoms came with a price, and we must protect them with the same dedication by which they were won.

§ 49-1. Form of general oath required of officers.

Every person before entering upon the discharge of any function as an officer of this Commonwealth shall take and subscribe the following oath: ”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the

United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that

I will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon me

as ………. according to the best of my ability, (so help me God).”[1] 

So, you want to be successful as a police officer in the United States.  This is where you begin, the US Constitution and your State’s Constitution.  When I actively trained new police officers for a department I worked in, I did not review officer safety; I did not review traffic laws; I did not review criminal laws.  When that new police officer, fresh out of the academy came to me, full of adrenalin, ready to chase down the bad guy or kick in a door, I slowed them down.  They did not like my part of their field training, but after they passed my phase of training, they learned the things that would keep them or the department from getting sued.

The above oath of office is administered to officers in my beloved home state, Virginia.  I take this oath very seriously, and I expected my trainee to do so as well. Upholding the Constitution does not always mean doing the fun thing, but it does mean always doing the right thing.  I believe the success of any law enforcement officer is to know and understand this, and live it out in the performance of duty.  Sometimes, the bad guy gets to walk away.  That is okay; because, for the bad guy to be able to continue to remain free and stay bad, he has to be great at what he does ALL the time.  For me to catch the bad guy, I have to be good only ONCE.  I tried to impart this small piece of wisdom with every new police officer I trained.

Sometimes the system seems unfair.  I have heard this from not only young police officers, but citizens as well.  The system seems to work in favor of the suspect/bad guy/defendant.  That is in fact, the truth. This nation was founded on certain principles, principles that were not practiced in nations from which our founders left.  I try to educate citizens and simply ask them to, for one second, imagine they were the person under arrest.  Would they not want every protection afforded to them to ensure a fair trial, to not be compelled to make an incriminating statement, to be guaranteed fair and adequate representation, to be tried by a jury of peers, to be guaranteed a fair, expedient and impartial trial?  Inevitably, the answer was always, “Yes, but . . .” 

I understand the “but”; the victim has in some way been injured and wants justice. Having this understanding, I further educated them by simply telling them that if I follow the rules, do what I am allowed to do by applicable law and the Constitution, when we do go to court we have a greater chance at justice being served.  It is not always easy for the victim to understand these principles, but I have had some victims that turned offender, and suddenly they did understand.

With this, I begin a series on “Policing within the Constitution”. I am not an expert, by definition. I am a practitioner. I have done well, and been successful; I have also made mistakes, and fortunately, learned from them. This series is for those practitioners and citizens alike. It is our duty as Americans, to know what this document means to a free society. Virginia has even granted its citizens the right to resist an unlawful arrest when there is some error on the part of the government official (Polk v. Commonwealth, 4 Va. App. 590, 596, 358 S.E.2d 770, 773 (1987; reaffirmed Brown v Commonwealth (1998)).  The importance of this information cannot be over stressed.  Our freedoms came with a price, and we must protect them with the same dedication by which they were won.

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About Tim Meacham

Tim Meacham is an active police officer for a university police department in Virginia. He has over twenty years of experience in Law Enforcement. Tim began his career as a public servant in 1987 by joining the local volunteer fire department. In 1990, Tim began his career in Law Enforcement. He has worked in both municipal and higher education policing.Tim earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 2009, from Liberty University in Criminal Justice. He earned his Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati, in 2011. Tim is a very active member of his local church and loves being a father to two very energetic boys at home, and two older children in college.

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