NCJ Number
177447
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 68 Issue: 5 Dated: May 1999 Pages: 27-32
Date Published
1999
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the development of Federal constitutional law regarding search incident to arrest, including Iowa's interpretation of an officer's authority to search incident to arrest that led to the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the issue.
Abstract
The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized a police officer's authority to conduct a warrantless search incident to a lawful custodial arrest. The scope of the search includes the person of the arrestee, personal items in his/her possession, the area into which the arrestee could reach at the time of arrest to retrieve a weapon, any means of escape, or destructible evidence, as well as a search of immediately adjoining areas for people posing a threat. The timing of the search of the person and personal items is flexible; the area searches should be contemporaneous with the arrest. The objects of the search incident to arrest are weapons, any means of escape, and evidence of any crime the arrestee could destroy. This authority is predicated on the dual concerns of officer safety and preservation of evidence for trial. In Knowles v. Iowa, the Supreme Court emphasized that the warrantless search incident to arrest is triggered only by a lawful custodial arrest. Mere probable cause to arrest, or the citation process alone, are not sufficient to justify the search. This decision is consistent with the Court's long-held position that any police search should be conducted with a warrant, authorized by a neutral and detached magistrate, unless the officer can justify the search under a recognized exception to the rule. Because the Supreme Court favors the use of a search warrant by police officers, the justices are hesitant to discourage their use by creating new exceptions to the rule or expanding exceptions already recognized. 59 notes