NCJ Number
156299
Journal
Crime to Court Police Officer's Handbook Dated: (July 1995) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1995
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Based upon McCabe v. City of Lynn (U.S. District Court of the District of Massachusetts), this handbook examines constitutional restrictions on warrantless police entry into a home, followed by a procedural article on outlaw motorcycle gangs.
Abstract
The case of McCabe v. City of Lynn (1995) is concerned primarily with whether a mental-commitment order carries with it the authority of a police officer to make warrantless, forcible entry into a home to take the subject into custody. The legal commentary concludes that there were no exigent circumstances in this case that justified the suspension of the warrant requirement. The test for determining the presence of exigent circumstances that would suspend the warrant requirement "is whether there is such a compelling necessity for immediate action as will not brook the delay of obtaining a warrant." The burden of proving the necessity for a warrantless search is on the government, and that burden is a substantial one. In this case the officers had no indication that waiting a few hours for a warrant would present an immediate threat to either Ms. Zinger (the subject of the involuntary commitment order) or the community. The plaintiff's motion for summary judgment against the City of Lynn was granted. The discussion of outlaw motorcycle gangs advises that outlaw motorcycle gangs that deal in drugs, prostitution, and violent crimes comprise only 1 percent of all motorcycle riders. A history of outlaw motorcycle gangs is presented to help police officers understand the background of such gangs. Part 2 of the two-part series on motorcycle gangs will list four steps in dealing with those suspected of being members of a motorcycle gang.