In 2000, the United States Supreme Court, in Florida v. J.L [i], held that an anonymous tip that a person possesses a gun, standing alone, does not provide sufficient reasonable suspicion to justify a stop and frisk.  Based on this, the court concluded that the stop of J.L. was not based on reasonable suspicion and therefore, not reasonable within the bounds of the Fourth Amendment such that the firearm must be suppressed.  On April 1, 2014, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Woods [ii], which serves as an excellent review of the law pertaining to frisks of persons in [...]

On March 17, 2014, the Supreme Court of Georgia decided the State v. Hargis [i], in which one of the issues was whether certain evidence that was seized from a vehicle should be excluded as a violation of the search incident to arrest rule set forth by the United States Supreme Court in the 2009 case of Arizona v. Gant [ii].  As a review, in Arizona v. Gant, the United States Supreme Court held that officers may search a vehicle incident to arrest only when (1) the arrestee is unsecured and within reach of the vehicle at the time of the search, or (2) when [...]

he Supreme Court has ruled in two consolidated cases that a cellular device may not be searched incident to arrest. Exigency may justify a search but the possibility of a remote wipe or data encryption due to phone lock is insufficient to establish exigency. The two cases as outlined by the Court: The First Case: In the first case, petitioner David Riley was stopped by a police officer for driving with expired registration tags. In the course of the stop, the officer also learned that Riley’s license had been suspended. The officer impounded Riley’s car, pursuant to department policy, and [...]

Traditional Internal Affairs Investigations Traditionally, most law enforcement agencies dedicate the majority of their internal affairs resources to investigating citizen complaints.  A complaint registered against an officer may be a significant indicator of police misconduct and should always be thoroughly investigated.  Every complaint, including those that are anonymous, should be documented and evaluated by the internal affairs unit to determine the appropriate course of action.  A strong process for investigating citizen complaints will help to establish the essential bond of trust a police agency requires to provide effective law enforcement within the community. The majority of these reactive complaint investigations [...]

Read Part I of This Article Here   Administrative Financial Disclosures Several police departments throughout the United States have required detectives who are assigned to gang investigations, narcotics, and money laundering investigations to disclose their personal financial information to the agency as a pre-requisite of being assigned to those types of high profile units. The disclosures are intended to provide police agencies with data showing whether their detectives have questionable assets. These types of background checks are among the reforms the United States Department of Justice has been recommending, and in some cases requiring, as a condition of their Pattern [...]

Read Part I of This Article Here Knock and talks are often used by law enforcement officers to attempt to further an investigation where information immediately known may be short of probable cause.  On February 10, 2014, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. Crisolis-Gonzalez [i], which serves as an excellent review regarding many legal issues that occur during a knock and talk.  The facts of Crisolis-Gonzalez are as follows: During his investigation of a series of drug trafficking cases in St. Joseph, Missouri, Special Agent Jose Covarrubias of Homeland Security Investigations received information from a confidential informant that Crisolis-Gonzalez [...]