Police officers have broad authority and discretion to enforce order — they can take property, stop, detain, and arrest people — at times under threat of lethal force. With such great power comes a significant risk of abuse, evidenced by the high-profile instances of brutality and misconduct.

In part 1 of this 2-part series, Joel sits down with Professor Rachel Harmon of UVA Law and the director of its Center for Criminal Justice to explore the jurisprudential framework of policing. Prof. Harmon then explains the constitutional and statutory limits of police conduct, including the use of deadly and non-deadly force in police-citizen encounters, arrests for protests and verbal opposition, and “contempt of cop” or retaliatory arrests.

(Credits: 0.5 General MCLE)