Question: I was arrested in the city of Roswell by an
Alpharetta police officer. Can they do that?
Answer: Yes, that is legal. In many jurisdictions officers are "cross sworn," meaning that neighboring police departments often have agreements that enable police officers to make valid arrests in that other city or county. Georgia law allows the practice because sometimes police and deputy sheriffs must pursue an alleged perpetrator into another jurisdiction. The policy is to avoid someone escaping simply by driving into another city or county. Examples of these types of agreements could be between Alpharetta and
Johns Creek or
Milton and
Alpharetta or between
Cherokee County and
Forsyth County or between
Fulton County and
Forsyth County And people can be alleged to be speeding, failing to maintain lane,
DUI or other offenses.