In 2037, Arlen Tensing was sitting peacefully in his home when Sheriff's Deputies, without a warrant and without probable cause, kicked in his front door with guns drawn. In the chaos that ensued, four Deputies lay dead, with one Deputy and the homeowner wounded. Tensing was not a suspect in a crime; in fact, it was revealed in court that all five Deputies were off duty but in uniform, and had not been in contact with their Watch Commander.
Tensing was not charged with a crime; the surviving Deputy, however, was charged with Burglary of an Occupied Dwelling, four counts of Murder in the First Degree, and assorted smaller charges. The incident resulted in the passage through the Texas legislature of the Government And Citizenry Equality Act, informally known as the Tensing Act, which was signed into law by President James M. Garrity on Wednesday, April 27th, 2039.
Among other provisions, the Tensing Act stipulates that peace officers rightly judged to be engaged in criminal activity are -- immediately upon observation of said activity -- bereft of legal authority and immunity, and may in such conditions face whatever force is necessary to subdue, disarm, and immobilize them pending the arrival of officers from an agency other than the agency to which the offender is attached.
This scenario was put to legal test in the case of Johns, et al. v Davis, in which Nacogdoches, Texas, Cpl. Shana Davis was observed to be beating a handcuffed suspect. Intervention came from Cpl. Davis's neighbor, Malcolm Johns, as well as his brother Ryan Johns, sister Jeanette Mikalski, and brother-in-law Delroy Mikalski. The Johns and Mikalskis physically separated Cpl. Davis from the suspect. When Davis drew her duty weapon, Delroy Mikalski shot and wounded Cpl. Davis. Davis was subsequently relieved of her weapon and herself handcuffed until officers from the San Augustine Police Department arrived and transported her to Nacogdoches Medical Center.
In the case of Johns, et al. v Davis, Cpl. Davis was found to have been in the process of unlawfully detaining and assaulting her domestic partner, Olivia Marcus. Due to this fact, the Tensing Act absolved Johns, et al. of all criminal culpability in the case. Cpl. Davis was summarily terminated from her employment with the Nacogdoches Police Department and was later tried and convicted on charges ranging from battery and false imprisonment to brandishing a firearm.