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Ian A. Wise

Abstract

Imagine the impotence a police officer must feel when watching a dangerous driver coming toward them but being unable to protect the public from harm until that driver crosses the invisible line of a city boundary. Even though hundreds of millions of Americans take preventive measures every day, Florida courts prohibit local law enforcement from doing the same; handcuffing officers by holding they may not take official action the moment they cross over the boundary lines of their city or county.

A narrow set of prudential exceptions to this rule has been created, resulting in absurdly contradictory rulings. Imagine a world where the use of agency letterhead is considered official action while the use of police vehicles, sirens, emergency lights, and firearms is not. A world where local officers may make an arrest for conduct occurring outside of the nation but not across the street in another city. These are not outlandish hypotheticals; this is the absurd reality of Florida’s precedent for law enforcement jurisdiction.

One of law enforcement’s primary purposes is to provide security to all members of the public, but the realities of modern life coupled with the absurd results of Florida’s current jurisdiction precedent prevent law enforcement from achieving this goal. Thankfully, a simple and common-sense solution is already codified in the Florida State Statutes, one that has been affirmed by Florida courts and the Supreme Court of the United States: the effects doctrine.

The day-to-day lives of over twenty million Floridians, countless tourists, and criminals are not constrained by the invisible lines dividing cities and counties, and neither should the routine activities of law enforcement. It is time Florida courts apply the effects doctrine to remove the handcuffs and allow law enforcement to serve their communities fully and properly.

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