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Legal Commentary: Flight of Persons Upon Approach of Police

NCJ Number
130771
Journal
Crime to Court Dated: (July 1991) Pages: 9-11
Author(s)
J C Coleman
Date Published
1991
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This review comments on the U.S. Supreme Court decisions pertaining to the flight of persons and seizures by the police.
Abstract
The constitutional prohibition against unlawful seizures applies to both the seizure of property and the seizure of the person. An arrest can be accomplished either by a touching on the part of the officer or submission on the part of the arrestee. In Bower v. Inyo County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police chasing a fleeing vehicle is not a seizure of the vehicle. The Court also has ruled that electronic interception of a telephone call can be a seizure prohibited by the fourth amendment. In Elkins v. United States, the Court held that "what the Constitution forbids is not all searches and seizures, but unreasonable searches and seizures."