On March 27, 2009, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided the United States v. Washingtoni which serves as an excellent criminal procedure review for “street crime” police units.  In this case, the District of Columbia High Impact Tactical [...]

Over the past few years, the use of Tasers® (electronic restraining/compliance device) has become more common among law enforcement agencies nationwide.  Recent literature indicates that “electronic control devices” are being used by 11,500 agencies, with approximately 260,000 of the devices [...]

Recently, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided a case that serves as excellent refresher training in criminal procedure regarding execution of arrest warrants in third party premises, third party consent and the plain view exception to the search warrant [...]

On January 26, 2009, the United States Supreme Court unanimously decided, in Arizona v. Johnsoni, that an officer, who has lawfully stopped an automobile, may conduct a frisk of a passenger for weapons if the officer has a reason to believe [...]

Harris v. Coweta County, et al., No. 07-13941, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 353 (11th Cir. 2008) In 2007, the United States Supreme Court decided Scott v. Harrisi, which vastly limited Fourth Amendment liability arising from vehicle pursuits.  This case began in 2001, [...]

United States v. Harris, No. 06-3045, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 3731 (D.C. Cir. Decided February 22, 2008) Officers from the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department executed a search warrant at the home of Dale Ann Harris, where she lived with her [...]

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution requires that the police have a warrant to enter a suspect’s home to seize evidence.  It follows that one of the principles of the Fourth Amendment is that searches and seizures inside [...]

Law enforcement officers are trained in the academy that there are only three legal ways to enter a person’s home: with consent, with a warrant or with exigent circumstances.  Recently, the Court of Appeals of Georgia decided a case which [...]

In 1997, the United States Supreme Court held, in Maryland v. Wilson, that it is reasonable for officers to order passengers in a lawfully stopped automobile to exit the vehicle.i  The court reasoned that there must be a balance during a [...]

Many officers are of the belief that if they have the legal right to detain a suspect, they can automatically frisk that suspect “for officer safety.”  However, in 1968, the United States Supreme Court held that an officer may conduct [...]