This portion of the Compromise of 1850 stated that, since slaves were property, and ownership of property extended across state lines, owners were within their rights to cross state lines to retrieve their runaway slaves. Further, law enforcement officers were charged with the public trust to protect person and property and were, therefore, held to be responsible for the capture and return of slaves to their owners. Free state or slave state, no state was safe for slaves from capture and re-enslavement anymore.