Term
| #1 – Describe the purpose of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. |
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Definition
| • is to establish rights relating to arrests, searches, and seizures of persons |
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Term
| #2 – Determine when a person is considered to be seized. |
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Definition
• In view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would believe that he/she was not free to leave
o The USSC listed examples of circumstances that might indicate seizure even when the person did not attempt to leave the area
The threatening presence of several officers
The display of a weapon by an officer(s)
Some physical touching of the person
The use of language or tone of voice indicating that compliance with the officer’s request might be compelled |
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Term
| #3 – Probable Cause Exists When... |
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Definition
• The facts and circumstances within the officer’s knowledge and of which he/she has reasonably trustworthy information sufficient to warrant a person to believe that an offense has been, or is being, committed by the person to be arrested
o The elements required to establish probable cause to arrest are different from those required to establish probable cause to search
o Probable cause to arrest deals with acts previously committed by the suspect and the officer must show substantial and trustworthy evidence that
o The law has been violated and
o The person about to be arrested committed that unlawful act
• Probable cause to search deals with the probability that evidence or contraband is presently located in a specific place |
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Term
| #4 – Explain when an officer can use the rationale from Terry to detain a person. |
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Definition
An officer may detain an individual based upon the officer’s reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity was being planned or was in the process of being executed
• This does not authorize police to detain anyone on mere suspicion
• The officer must be able to articulate the reasons for his/her belief that criminal activity was being planned or was in the process of being executed
• An officer may give weight to his/her experience, and to the reasonable inference that he/she is entitled to draw from the facts, in light of that experience
• Officers should apply the totality of circumstances
• While none of the circumstances standing alone would justify a Terry stop, considered together they may amount to reasonable suspicion
• If, during that detention, additional facts are uncovered that supply the officer with probable cause to arrest, the individual may be arrested
• If grounds for an arrest are not discovered in a reasonable amount of time, the detainee must be released |
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Term
| #5 – Describe the requirements which must be established before a Terry pat down/frisk. |
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Definition
• Officers are required to articulate a reasonable belief that the suspect is armed AND
• The suspect poses a threat to them |
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Term
| #6 – Explain the plain feel doctrine. |
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Definition
• While an officer may not search for objects other than weapons on a Terry stop, if the officer feels an object that he/she immediately recognizes as contraband, it may be seized even if he/she knows it is not a weapon
• This only applies when the identity of the object is immediately apparent to the officer from its shape and the way it feels
• The officer may not seize an object that is unmistakably not a weapon, if determining its identity requires further manipulation
• When the incriminating nature of the object is immediately apparent, seizing it does not invade the suspect’s privacy beyond what is allowed in a Terry frisk
• When determining if an object requires further manipulation, (e.g., going in pockets, repeatedly squeezing the object) an additional invasion of privacy is necessary and that is not permitted during a Terry frisk
• Once it is determined that an object is not a weapon, the search must stop unless there is a warrant, probable cause for arrest, or consent |
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Term
| #7 – Explain the elements necessary to constitute an arrest. |
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Definition
• Intent – the intention of the arresting officer to take someone into custody is one of the basic elements that distinguishes an arrest from lesser forms of detention
• Specific or actual intent is not necessary; can infer from the officer’s conduct an intent to take a person into custody when no intent actually existed
• It becomes necessary to carefully scrutinize any restraint(s) imposed by officers and the extent of intrusion upon freedom of movement in order to identify the type of seizure that has taken place
• Authority – restraint on the liberty of the individual must be either under actual authority of an officer or under assumed authority of an officer
• Seizure – actual or constructive seizure or detention of the person by submission or by physical restraint
• It is not necessary there be actual force, manual touching, or physical restraint visible as long as the arrestee understands that he/she is in the power of the person making the arrest and submits to that control
• A seizure occurs where a defendant understands that he/she is not free to go. There is no need for the magic words, “You’re under arrest”
• USSC ruled that when an individual ran, upon seeing the police, and the police followed and drove alongside the defendant, it did not constitute a seizure of the person
• The Court further ruled that police will have seized an individual “only if, in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave”
• Understanding – person arrested understands that he/she is arrested. This must be determined on a case by case basis |
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Term
| #8 – Identify when an officer may make a warrant-less, non-consensual entry into a private dwelling in order to arrest the resident. |
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Definition
Exigent circumstances must exist which demand an immediate response
• Examples of exigent circumstances
‒ The crime is serious and it is likely the suspect is armed
‒ It is likely the suspect will escape or
‒ There is a risk of danger to the police, others inside the home, or the community if the suspect escapes |
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Term
| #9 – Identify when an arrest warrant may be executed in the home of a third party. |
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Definition
• There is also a warrant to search the premises for the person to be arrested or
• The officer has consent to enter or
• There are exigent circumstances |
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Term
| #10 – Explain the concept of hot/fresh pursuit. |
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Definition
| • The pursuit, without unreasonable interruption, of a person who is trying to avoid arrest |
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Term
| #11 – Identify sources of information that can be used to establish probable cause to make a warrantless arrest. |
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Definition
• Personal observations
• Informant’s tips
• Reports from other officers or law enforcement agencies
• Leads furnished by the victim or witness to the crime
• Physical evidence found at the scene
• Past criminal record of suspect
• Statements made by a suspect |
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Term
| #12 – Explain the difference between a full search, limited search, and an inventory. |
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Definition
Full Searches
• Based on probable cause
• The requirements an officer must show to establish probable cause to search are
• The item(s) involved are associated with criminal activity as either evidence of criminal activity or contraband and
• It is more likely than not the item(s) will be found in the place the officer wishes to search
• Full searches require either a search warrant or a recognized exception to the warrant requirement
• Limited weapons searches – frisks and protective sweeps
o Used to disarm the person to protect officers
o Authority based on reasonable suspicion that a person lawfully detained is armed and dangerous
• Inventory
o Not necessarily a search under Fourth Amendment standards
o Used to catalogue property that police have taken into custody
o Authority comes from the need to adhere to department policy to protect the property and the agency from claims of lost, stolen, or damaged property |
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Term
| #13 – Identify the area an officer may search incident to a lawful arrest. |
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Definition
| • is the area within the person’s immediate control at the arrest location |
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Term
| #14 – Describe the criteria needed to establish the plain view exception to the search warrant requirement. |
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Definition
• The officers must be legally on the premises from where the observation is made
• The incriminating nature of the item must be immediately apparent (i.e., equates to probable cause)
• The officers must have a lawful right of access to the object |
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Term
| #15 – Identify when an officer may search an automobile and the containers within it. |
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Definition
• Whenever probable cause exists to believe contraband or evidence is contained in the motor vehicle or its container(s)
o The Court concluded that officers who establish probable cause to believe contraband is hidden in a motor vehicle may search that motor vehicle without a search warrant
o The rationale for the motor vehicle exception to the search warrant requirement is based on the fact that a vehicle could easily be moved from the jurisdiction in which the warrant was to be obtained |
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Term
| #16 – Identify when an officer may conduct a protective search of a motor vehicle. |
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Definition
| • The officer must articulate a reasonable suspicion that the vehicle contains some type of weapon and the suspect or some other person reasonably has access, or will have access, to that weapon |
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Term
| #17 – Explain the factors considered in determining if an inventory of a motor vehicle is reasonable. |
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Definition
• The car was lawfully impounded
• The inventory was conducted after the impoundment
• The owner was not present to make other arrangements for the safekeeping of the vehicle
• The inventory was prompted by valuables in plain view and was pursuant to standard police procedure
• The inventory was not a pretext to conceal an investigatory search |
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Term
| #18 – Identify the keys in determining whether a consent search is valid. |
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Definition
• Whether consent was given voluntarily
• The person giving consent has authority to do so
• No other person with authority, that is present, has refused |
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