The following information relies on the recollections and opinions of a retired local jurisdiction law enforcement officer.
When Betty wrote her “Legalese” post on terms from legal dictionaries, I mentioned that “mirandize” was one of my favorites. My dad had started his law enforcement career just a few years prior to the Supreme Court’s Miranda decision on June 13, 1966, so I asked him for his memories of it when I was studying the decision in school. Betty mentioned that his stories would make a good blog post. And, as this is National Police Week, I am following up with her suggestion.
My father is retired from a large local jurisdiction police force. His agency provides continuing professional education, by publishing newsletters, arranging FBI Academy law enforcement training, and coordinating numerous other conferences and seminars. His agency recognized that an educated police force would provide better service to the community. For some time prior to the Miranda decision, his agency’s criminal law courses taught all new recruits that they were required by the agency to inform all persons arrested that they had the right to remain silent and that anything they said could be used against them in a court of law. These were tw