Cops can only operate within their own borders (like a NY cop cannot enforce the law in Canada) unless they’re granted special permission from Ottawa to the White House on catching high profile fugitives, even then: their powers are limited in order not to violate their sovereignty. Would their badge hold any weight while they are overseas (who have their own judiciary)?

That’s only speaking on official terms: but, what happens if an American on vacation (like off duty sheriff) witnesses or encounters criminal activity while they’re abroad? Are they allowed to detain that person or do they have to eventually turn them over to local authorities? For instance, they could flex a LAPD badge in Japan, but is that valid or considered null?

  • HamsterRage@lemmy.ca
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    4 days ago

    Something about this question rankles me.

    It feels like there’s some underlying assumption of superiority of US law enforcement over that of the rest of the world. Even just by asking the question the way it is asked, “…flex a LAPD badge”, like anyone outside the US would even know what it was.

    Flip the question around, could a Romanian cop who didn’t speak English, or one from the DRC maybe, “flex” his badge in Wyoming? It’s laughable. The OP probably wouldn’t ever consider the possibility that anyone in the US would ever care about a foreign police badge.

    I dunno. The whole question smacks of, “Team America. World Police”.