Police officers deal with crime, of course. But, here in Massachusetts, they also have a “community caretaking” function that allows them to approach and question you when it seems reasonably necessary to ensure your safety or the safety of the community.
Such “community caretaking” interactions often lead to arrests. (Many OUI arrests stem from cops approaching intoxicated drivers who are sitting in a stationary vehicle–either in a parking lot or on the side of the road.)
Moreover, “caretaking” investigations allow the officer to engage in behavior (stopping you, questioning you, etc.) that is otherwise “constitutionally intrusive.”
According to the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), “local police officers are charged with community caretaking functions, totally divorced from the detection, investigation, or acquisition of evidence relating to the violation of a criminal statute.” See Commonwealth v. Evans, 436 Mass. 369, 372 (2002).
The community caretaking function applies “to a range of police activities involving motor vehicles, . . . in which there are objective facts indicating that a person may be in need of medical assistance or some other circumstance exists apart from the investigation of criminal activity that supports police intervention to protect an individual or the public.” Commonwealth v. Fisher, 86 Mass. App. Ct. 48, 51 (2014).
During these interactions, a police officer “may take steps that are reasonable and consistent with the purpose of his inquiry, even if those steps include actions that might otherwise be constitutionally intrusive.” See Commonwealth v. Knowles, 451 Mass. 91, 95 (2008).
If the officer discovers evidence of a crime during his “community caretaking” investigation, that evidence is admissible at trial.
Again citing the SJC in Fisher: an officer’s “effort to confirm whether emergency medical assistance is required or to determine the nature of the individual’s apparent illness or impairment is not invalid because the acts taken by the officer also serve to uncover evidence of criminal activity”