| Law enforcement personnel have sought to find their niche in legal doctrine involving individual privacy rights. Relying on constitutional analysis, this study examines the doctrines and principles utilized by federal and state courts to interpret law enforcement personnel privacy rights involving workplace search, drug testing, disease testing, polygraph testing, intimate associations involving lifestyle preference and sexual conduct, and disclosure of personal, medical, and financial information. Prevailing standards within the existing precedent and which are being applied by the various federal and state courts are identified and analyzed. In unsettled areas of the law where there is an absence of such standards, the study identifies those diverse standards which are being used by the various courts. The evolution of precedent and an analysis of existing case law in each of the topics is presented. Court trends are discussed concerning the movement toward expansion or diminution of privacy rights of law enforcement personnel. Indications within the existing court doctrine are that the majority of employers are permitted to regulate law enforcement personnel in the privacy topics examined. Analysis suggests that law enforcement claimants are experiencing minimal success in advancing individual privacy rights in the current state of court doctrine. |
