NCJ Number
216393
Date Published
2006
Length
180 pages
Annotation
This book instructs law enforcement officers in the legal parameters for search and seizure, creating a framework for effective problemsolving and decisionmaking in the field regarding searches and seizures.
Abstract
In order to develop readers' analytical abilities for making search-and-seizure decisions in the field, the book presents brief quotations from U.S. Supreme Court cases that pertain to search and seizure. The book takes the Court's decisions and translates them into practical guidance for officers in the field. One chapter focuses on constitutional bases for protections against unrestrained searches and seizures by law enforcement officers. It explains why respect for a citizen's right of privacy is required in conducting criminal investigations. Aspects of the right of privacy are discussed in the 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution. This is followed by a chapter on the conditions necessary for law enforcement officers to engage in searches and seizures that violate privacy in the interest of public protection and justice. The chapter distinguishes between interviewing and detainment; offers suggestions for obtaining a person's consent for a search; defines mere suspicion, reasonable suspicion, and probable cause in the context of custody and arrest; and explains the essentials of search and arrest warrants, the initial court appearances, the grand jury, and arraignment. A chapter then explains the implementation of search and seizure with and without warrants and what can be seized in such searches. Another chapter focuses on searches of the person and searches of vehicles and containers by patrol officers. Other chapters consider the search of residences and other locations not under the control of a suspect, as well as searches after arrest. The concluding chapter outlines guidelines for law enforcement officers regarding search-and-seizure practices. Chapter summaries, 22 references, and an index of cases