Crime & Law Enforcement Issues & Death Penalty/Questions on procedure

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Expert: - 6/18/2006


Question
I am writing a novel in which a police officer is injured and his partner is killed.

After an injured police officer has recovered from his injuries, is he assigned another partner that is familiar with the case he is working on?

Or is he left without a partner and for how long?

Am I correct in assuming that every police officer has to have a partner?

Answer
    Police officers don't have "partners".  That is a term from the distant past.  I think that as late as the 80's some big city departments had that system but most progressive departments have one man cars and those who have two man cars use them only in very high crime and dangerous areas but you don't work with the same person every day.

Crime & Law Enforcement Issues & Death Penalty

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Jack Toomey

Expertise

Please do NOT ask questions about potential jail sentences that you or your friends may receive in court. There is no way for me to know that. I am NOT a probation officer or a parole officer so questions about those subjects will be rejected. I am a police officer with 26 years experience. Can answer questions about crime, police procedure, investigations, criminal law, search and seizure, traffic offenses. Prefer not to answer questions on the death penalty. Please do not ask homework questions. Remember this. The law in every state is different so questions about laws that are specific to your state could be difficult to answer. I also cannot give you legal advice on what to do or not to do in court. I have worked with authors in the past and will be happy to review scenarios or plots with authors to check for believability or accuracy.

Experience

Police officer with 26 years experience. Ten years in patrol and sixteen years in the detective bureau investigating every type of crime including murder, rape, robbery, theft, fraud, missing persons, etc, etc. Also taught at the police academy in areas such as constitutional law, search and seizure, and lineups.

Education/Credentials
B.S. in Criminology from the University of Maryland.

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