Uncovering the Meaning of “Police In Hot Pursuit”

00;00;00;01 – 00;00;11;21
Speaker 1
Hi, everyone. Have you ever wondered what does hot pursuit mean when it refers to the police officers following you? This is Christina Williams with Just Criminal Law.

00;00;11;26 – 00;00;29;18
Speaker 2
And this is David Mann, legal storytelling specialist. And very curious right now about what you just said. Hot Pursuit that really is a phrase that we hear. He was in hot pursuit. I mean, we kind of use it casually, but there actually is a that’s a that’s a type of pursuit. And what does that actually mean?

00;00;30;07 – 00;00;58;18
Speaker 1
Well, when we’re talking about it in the legal sense or the courtroom setting, it means that an officer suspects, you of a crime. And they turn on their overhead lights and follow you. Sometimes it’s at a fast rate. But if you if this is suspect that you’ve committed a felony that is a serious crime, they can pursue you all the way into the inside of your house.

00;00;58;18 – 00;01;22;16
Speaker 2
Okay, great. So we’ve got to break this down a little bit. So we’ve talked about before pursuit of a police officer pursuing you for a misdeed minor, like something relatively small that you’ve done. And you arrive at you’re at your driveway and now, you know, they don’t have the right to come on to your property and start asking you questions, but you’re now differentiating and say this is a felony.

00;01;22;23 – 00;01;33;09
Speaker 2
So what’s an example maybe of some we all know of big, huge felonies that we’re not supposed to be doing, but what would be sort of one of these things that we might not think of as a felony but is?

00;01;34;06 – 00;02;45;14
Speaker 1
Well, first of all, I want to make it very clear, if the officer puts on his overhead lights. Whether you’ve made it home or not, you need to pull over. That’s definitely never an option. The lights come on. You pull over. I’m talking about a situation where they suspect that you’ve done something like, say, there was a confrontation. Confrontation down at a local bar and someone is wanting to get into a fight with you. They follow you out to your vehicle. They won’t leave you alone, and you end up pointing a gun at them so that you can leave and then you head home and that person calls the cops and says, Hey, I just got a gun pointed at me. Now they don’t explain the whole situation, but generally speaking, you can’t just point guns at people. So the officer starts to head to your house and ends up meeting you there. So you pulled into the driveway. That type of situation, you’re going to have to stop and talk to the officer because you’re suspected of that felony assault. So that’s the situation.

00;02;46;02 – 00;02;52;26
Speaker 2
And and does the police officer have to say you are being suspected of a felony offense?

00;02;53;21 – 00;03;20;29
Speaker 1
No, they don’t necessarily have to have to say that. They just need to say, hey, I need you to stop. I want to talk to you. And you know, you don’t. A lot of times we’ll say, hey, do you mind if I talk to you. And you know what just happened in that kind of situation? You probably need to stop and at least address that. So you don’t need to explain what happened, but you need to acknowledge that he’s there, otherwise he can potentially follow you into your house.

00;03;21;16 – 00;03;34;28
Speaker 2
Okay. So this is different than the misdemeanor scene where someone, you know didn’t do something. They did a misdemeanor possibly. And the police officer can’t just walk out of their property and walk into their house.

00;03;35;03 – 00;03;47;10
Speaker 1
Right. So an example. Just to be clear, David, would be the officer sees you throw a cigarette out your window, you know, that’s technically littering. He can’t then follow you into your house over that.

00;03;47;12 – 00;03;59;21
Speaker 2
But if you’ve pulled a gun on somebody, he can. But I think what you’re saying here is he still you still don’t have to explain anything and tell any story about what happened. Right.

00;04;00;13 – 00;04;16;19
Speaker 1
Right. I mean, you still have that absolute power of telling him that you don’t want to talk to him and you know, you that’s your right to remain silent. And I always, always recommend that you exercise that.

00;04;16;19 – 00;04;24;27
Speaker 2
Okay. And in the event that you happen to not do that and mess up a few of these details, how do they call you to help them with that?

00;04;25;19 – 00;04;38;23
Speaker 1
Well, we’ll include a link in the description and they can call, text or chat with a member of my team anytime, day or night. Here at Just Criminal Law, we know you only get one shot at justice. So make yours count.