NCJ Number
175187
Journal
Crime to Court Volume: lice Officers's Handbook (December 1998) Issue: Dated: Pages: -
Date Published
1998
Length
14 pages
Annotation
These articles explain for police officers the constitutional law relating to a frisk search in which a police officer detects the presence of an unknown and potentially dangerous object on a suspect during a frisk and then must decide whether to search further and seize the item.
Abstract
The case of United States v. Swann involved local police officers in Maryland. The police officer felt a hard object in Swann's left sock; the object was a stack of five credit cards belonging to a theft victim. A full search following the arrest produced a canister containing crack cocaine. The defendant moved to suppress the credit cards and cocaine. However, the court ruled that the seizure was proper, because a reasonable police officer could justifiably have believed that the item in the sock was a weapon. The test is whether a reasonably prudent and competent police officer would have regarded the seizure as reasonable, with due regard to the particular circumstances. Questions and answers, photographs, and discussion of procedures relating to the arrest of a serial murderer