A legal adviser for a police department receives a call from a local supervisor stating that a railroad police officer with a railroad police commission from another state just came into his precinct with an arrest for simple assault on a conductor on a passenger train in the supervisor’s state. The supervisor asks if this railroad police officer has the authority to make the arrest and wonders if the prisoner should be locked up. He is concerned about potential liability for accepting a prisoner on an illegal arrest.

The short answer is yes—railroad police do have police authority to make such arrests. This column sheds some light on the legal authority of railroad police, which will be useful for legal advisers if they should be involved in a similar issue.