31 Miss. Code. R. 301-1.1 - Definitions

Herein are defined certain terms used in these Policy and Procedures.

1. Administrative Hold - Shall mean the withholding of all training funds and certification certificates due to non-compliance with Board policy or official requests for information.

2. Background Investigation - Shall mean a comprehensive process designed to produce fact-based, complete, accurate and unbiased information to ensure that an applicant meets all standards and requirements for employment.

3. Board - Shall mean the Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training.

4. Board Director - Shall mean the Director of the Division of Public Safety Planning.

5. Break in Service - Any period of time when an individual is not a law enforcement officer as defined in this policy.

6. Certificates - Shall mean certificates issued only to fully qualified officers.

7. Certified - Shall mean the Board has acknowledged that all requirements mandated by this policy and the Law Enforcement Officers Training Program have been achieved and that a certificate has been issued as documentation of the same.

8. Chief of Police - Shall mean the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality, who shall have control and supervision of all police officers employed by the municipality. The officer in charge of municipal law enforcement officers, regardless of title, is acting as the Chief of Police.

9. Code of Ethics - Shall mean the ethical mandates set forth in Chapter 4, Rule 4.4,(1), Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, that law enforcement officers use to perform their duties.

10. Criminal Record - Shall mean any type of felony or misdemeanor conviction.

11. Disqualifying Criminal Convictions - Shall mean a criminal record that is specific and directly related to the duties and responsibilities of a law enforcement officer as determined by a consideration of the following factors: the nature and seriousness of the crime for which the individual was convicted; the passage of time since the commission of the crime; the relationship of the crime to the ability, capacity, and fitness required to perform the duties and discharge the responsibilities of a law enforcement officer; and any evidence of rehabilitation or treatment undertaken by the individual that might mitigate against a direct relation.

12. Employment Standards - To be qualified for employment as a law enforcement officer, the applicant must meet the following standards and requirements: Be at least twenty-one (21) years of age, a high school graduate (or obtain a General Educational Development (GED) Diploma), and a United States citizen; be of such good physical and mental condition to be capable of performing the duties under conditions inherent to the profession, as verified by a licensed physician; and be of good moral character as evidenced among other things by having neither a conviction, a plea of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere, probation, pre-trial diversion or the payment of any fine for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or in relation to a crime that is directly related to the duties and responsibilities of a law enforcement officer; and have engaged in no conduct or action that would greatly diminish the public trust in the competence and reliability of a law enforcement officer. Former members of the Armed Forces must have been discharged under honorable conditions. Fitness for service as it relates to moral character must be verified by an appropriate background investigation.

13. Equivalency of Training - Shall mean the assessment of an applicant's law enforcement training, education, experience and qualifications.

14. "Grand-fathered" or exempt officers - Shall mean full-time law enforcement officers already serving under permanent appointment on July 1, 1981, and personnel of the division of community services under § 47-7-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, serving on July 1, 1994, are not required to meet any of the provisions of the Law Enforcement Officers Training Program.

15. Lateral Transfer - A transfer by a certified officer to a different law enforcement agency.

16. Law Enforcement Employer - Shall mean the agency which employs the law enforcement officer.

17. Law Enforcement Officer - Shall mean any person or individual appointed or employed full time by the state or any political subdivision thereof, or by the state military department as provided in Section 33-1-33, who is duly sworn and vested with authority to bear arms and make arrests, and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of criminals and the enforcement of the criminal and traffic laws of this state and/or the ordinances of any political subdivision thereof. The term "law enforcement officer" also includes employees of the Department of Corrections who are designated as law enforcement officers by the Commissioner of Corrections pursuant to Section 47-5-54 and includes those district attorney criminal investigators who are designated as law enforcement officers. However, the term "law enforcement officer" shall not mean or include any elected official or any person employed as a legal assistant to a district attorney in this state, compliance agents of the State Board of Pharmacy, or any person or elected official who, subject to approval by the board, provides some criminal justice related services for a law enforcement agency. As used in this paragraph, "appointed or employed full time" means any person, other than a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer, who is receiving gross compensation for his or her duties as a law enforcement officer of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) or more per week or One Thousand Seventy-Five Dollars ($1,075.00) or more per month; for a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer, the term "appointed or employed full time" means a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer who is receiving gross compensation for his or her duties as a law enforcement officer of Four Hundred Seventy-five Dollars ($475.00) or more per week or Two Thousand Fifty Dollars ($2,050.00) or more per month.

18. Law Enforcement Trainee - Shall mean any person appointed or employed in a full-time, part-time, reserve or auxiliary capacity by the state or any political subdivision thereof for the purposes of completing all the selection and training requirements established by the board to become a law enforcement officer or a part-time law enforcement officer. Such individuals shall not have the authority to use force, bear arms, make arrests or exercise any of the powers of a peace officer unless:

A. The trainee is under the direct control and supervision of a law enforcement officer;

B. The trainee was previously certified under this chapter; or

C. The trainee is a certified law enforcement officer in a reciprocating state

19. Moral Turpitude - Any conduct, or pattern of conduct, contrary to justice, honesty, honor, modesty or good morals that would tend to disrupt, diminish or otherwise jeopardize public trust and fidelity in law enforcement.

20. Part-time Law Enforcement Officer - Shall mean any person or individual appointed or employed in a part-time, reserve, or auxiliary capacity by the state or any political subdivision thereof who is duly sworn and vested with authority to bear arms and make arrests, and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of criminals and the enforcement of the criminal and traffic laws of this state and/or the ordinances of any political subdivision thereof. However, the term "part-time law enforcement officer" shall not mean or include any person or elected official who, subject to approval by the Board, provides some criminal justice related services for a law enforcement agency. As used in this paragraph "appointed or employed" means any person, other than a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer, who is performing such duties at any time whether or not they receive any compensation for duties as a law enforcement officer provided that such compensation is less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per week or One Thousand Seventy-Five Dollars ($1,075.00) per month; for a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer, the term 'appointed or employed" means a deputy sheriff or municipal law enforcement officer who is performing such duties at any time whether or not they receive any compensation for duties as a law enforcement officer provided that such compensation is less than Four Hundred Seventy-five Dollars ($475.00) per week or Two Thousand Fifty Dollars ($2,050.00) per month.

21. Probationary Period - A period of one year for full-time status and two years for part-time status from the initial date of hire as a law enforcement trainee, in the original appointment. The probationary period cannot be enlarged by additional or multiple appointments. Individuals acquire an additional two-year period following a break in-service of more than two years.

22. Self-Sponsored Cadet - Shall mean any person applying to an accredited law enforcement academy with the intent of completing the basic course curriculum or refresher course curriculum for full-time or part-time employment.

23. Training Packet - Shall mean the Board adopted forms used to collect information necessary for enrollment in a basic, part-time/reserve or refresher training course.

Notes

31 Miss. Code. R. 301-1.1

Miss Code Ann. § 45-6-3, 45-6-7

Adopted 9/16/2019 Amended 11/3/2021