Assault & Battery Verbal assault of law enforcement officer

[carlo3usa]

Is there any federal law/case that allows federal law enforcement officer arrest somebody or file complaint to supervisor for verbal assault/calling names/fighting words while on duty???
I am trying to find out if law enforcement officers are protected by any means in this kind of situations against individual's rudeness and disrespect.

 

[tpajet]

It kind of depends on what was said, but for the most part, you are protected under the first amendment. This has been run through the courts in the past. Legally the officer can't do anything about name calling or general disrespect, but they could act if the person was making threats to the officer or some similar type of behavior.

Keep in mind too, that even though the officer may not be able to do anything about you calling him/her a name, it doesn't mean they can't find something else. For example, if you got pulled over, and called the officer a pig, he/she will be less than willing to give you a break on the ticket, or may decide to cite you for that chip in your windshield. In Florida, we do not have vehicle inspections. Instead, officers may initiate a traffic stop if they observe something wrong or may check the vehicle during a stop. I think you get the idea.

 

[mightymoose]

Contact the agency and make a formal (written) complaint about the officer if you wre not satisfied with his service.

 

[CdwJava]

Is there any federal law/case that allows federal law enforcement officer arrest somebody or file complaint to supervisor for verbal assault/calling names/fighting words while on duty???
I am trying to find out if law enforcement officers are protected by any means in this kind of situations against individual's rudeness and disrespect.

Words alone,no. But, if the person being obnoxious is somehow obstructing the officer in the performance of his duties, you can almost certainly be arrested for that.

One cannot generally be arrested for the content of their speech, but they can be arrested for their actions.