A police officer has a lesser right to privacy as a result of his career choice

In a convoluted RICO conspiracy claim brought by an NYPD officer against the city and others, one claim dealt with invasion of privacy. The court held that the officer had a lower expectation of privacy as a result of his voluntarily becoming a police officer. The case involved detox. Buneo v. City of New York, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24766 (E.D. N.Y. March 30, 2007):

Plaintiff further claims that City Defendants’ actions resulted in a violation of his constitutional right to privacy. However, as City Defendants correctly point out, Plaintiff, as a police officer, is not entitled to the same privacy rights as the average citizen. “The privacy expectations of any particular group is markedly diminished by such factors as the employees’ voluntary pursuit of a position they know to be pervasively regulated for reasons of safety and the employees’ acceptance of severe intrusions upon their privacy.” Seelig v. Koehler, 76 N.Y.2d 87, 91 (1990) (citing National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab, 489 U.S. 656, 668 (1989); see also Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives’ Assn., 489 U.S. 602, 618 (1989)).

Plaintiff voluntarily joined the NYPD, an organization that is not only highly regulated, but whose regulations are often predicated on the numerous safety concerns it faces as the primary protector of New York City. Because police officers’ work is, by definition, safety-sensitive, it is a justifiable intrusion upon a police officer’s privacy to ensure that he or she is mentally and physically fit to carry out the duties and responsibilities required of a member of the service. See Biehunik v. Felicetta, 441 F.2d 228, 231 (2d Cir.1971). By joining such an organization, Plaintiff implicitly accepted greater intrusions upon his privacy. See, e.g., Poole v Stephens, 688 F. Supp. 149, 155 (D.N.J. 1988) (finding that correction officers’ privacy expectation was diminished by the safety considerations of their work). To the extent that Plaintiff’s § 1983 action is predicated upon an unconstitutional intrusion on his privacy, that claim is dismissed as a matter of law. [And he does not prevail.]

District court’s finding that defendant understood English enough to consent and read and signed the Spanish language side of the consent form was not clearly erroneous. United States v. Ramos-Gonzalez, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 7660 (5th Cir. April 3, 2007)* (unpublished).

The search warrant was not stale. While the primary information was five months old, there was at least some evidence in the affidavit of drug sales from and related possession in defendant’s house after that. United States v. Perry, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24540 (E.D. Mich. April 3, 2007).*

An officer does not need reasonable suspicion to stop and ask for identification, but, in this case, the officer did have reasonable suspicion because the defendant matched the description of a bank robber. United States v. Askew-Bell, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24679 (N.D. Ill. April 2, 2007).*

Federal deputy marshal’s executing a court order for forfeiture had immunity under the order. Jebril v. United States, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24542 (E.D. Mich. March 30, 2007).*