Township Jurisdictions

[barbiet89]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I was busted speeding in Tulpehocken Twp. (Berks County). I was pulled over by a Tulpehocken Twp. policeman in Jackson Twp (Lebanon county). Is an officer allowed to cross twp. lines to cite a motor vehicle operator? And No I was not trying to out run the cop or anything like that, I was just that close to the twp line by the time he caught up to me I crossed the twp line.

 

[CdwJava]

Crossing jurisdictional lines is not like getting to "home base" in a game of tag. Yes, they can cite you in another jurisdiction of pursuing you for a violation that occurred within their primary jurisdiction. It would be silly if PA law stated otherwise.

- Carl

 

[Orcons]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I was busted speeding in Tulpehocken Twp. (Berks County). I was pulled over by a Tulpehocken Twp. policeman in Jackson Twp (Lebanon county). Is an officer allowed to cross twp. lines to cite a motor vehicle operator? And No I was not trying to out run the cop or anything like that, I was just that close to the twp line by the time he caught up to me I crossed the twp line.

This has come up before but I don't recall the question coming up concerning PA. In some states (e.g., MA) this is not allowed (assuming you stopped in a reasonable distance - if you were fleeing all bets are off) but may or may not be allowed in your state. You need someone who knows PA law. (I am not optimistic this is not allowed in your state, we are pretty liberal here in MA, but you need specific info on your state.)


Note: for the invariable poster who will doubt this is the case in MA, look up Commonwealth v. Grise, 398 Mass. 247 (1986). Two Ludlow officers, waiting at a red light on the border of Ludlow and Springfield, saw a guy blow through the light and go into Springfield. They followed him, nabbed him for drunk driving and the whole thing got tossed as they did not have jurisdiction in Springfield. Their actions would have been allowed if they had been in hot pursuit of him for an arrestable offense but they were not.

 

[Maestro64]

PA has rules that allow police to cross political boundaries to pursue someone who broke a law in their political boundaries. They can not enforce local laws outside their boundaries, meaning they can not go into the next town and sit there and write parking tickets.

So as long the place the officer is claiming you broke the law was within his boundary and the ticket show the correct location then there is nothing that can be done.

 

[Maestro64]

Here is the most recent PA case law on the subject

http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Supreme/out/J-111-2008mo.pdf

As you see the courts extend the meaning of Hot Pursuit, originally these laws we put in place so police can cross boundaries as they chase someone who just committed a crime, the courts now said they extend to a police officer belief of probable cause that a crime has occurred.

Here is the specific PA rule

Statewide municipal police jurisdiction - 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 8953 - Pennsylvania Attorney Resources - Pennsylvania Laws