Although folks in the United States are entitled to privacy and freedom from government intrusion, there is a limit to that privacy. State or federal law enforcement officers are allowed, where justified, to search your premises, car, or other property and assets in order to look for and seize unlawful items, stolen goods or evidence of a criminal offense. What rules must the authorities follow when engaging in searches and seizures? What can they do in upholding the laws, and what can't they do?

What police officers May Do:

• Under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, law enforcement officials may engage in "reasonable" searches and seizures.
  
  
  • To demonstrate that a search is "reasonable," police officers must generally show that it is more likely than not that a crime has occurred, and that if a search is conducted it is probable that they will find either stolen goods or evidence of the crime. This can be named probable cause.
    
  • In several situations, police officers need to first make this showing to a judge who issues a search warrant. Usually in most special circumstances, however, law enforcement may be able to conduct a search without any a warrant. In fact, virtually all searches are "warrantless."
    
  
  
  
• Police may search and seize items or evidence when there is absolutely no "legitimate expectation of privacy." In various other words, should you did not have a privacy interest in the items or evidence, the authorities can take them and, in effect, no "search" has transpired.
  

Note: In deciding whether or not there was a "legitimate expectation of privacy," a court will take into consideration two things:

• Did you have an expectation of some degree of privacy?
  
• Was that expectation reasonable in our society's view?
  

Example: You have a semi-automatic rifle that you stole from a pawn shop. You leave the firearm laying on the hood of your vehicle when you get home. You do not have a "legitimate expectation of privacy" with regard to items you leave on the hood of your vehicle, and the authorities may take the gun. No search has occurred.

• Police may use first-hand information, or tips from an informant to justify the need to search your property. If an informant's info is used, the police must prove that the information is reliable under the circumstances.
  
• Once a warrant is obtained, the authorities may enter onto the specified area of the property and search for the items listed on the warrant.
  
• Police may perhaps extend the search beyond the specified area of the property or include various other items in the search beyond those specified or listed in the warrant if it is necessary to:
  
  
  • Ensure their safety or the safety of others;
    
  • Prevent the destruction of evidence;
    
  • Discover more about possible evidence or stolen items that are in plain view; or
    
  • Hunt for evidence or stolen items that, dependent upon their initial search of the specified area, they believe may be in a different location on the property.
    
  
  
  

Example: Police officers have a warrant to search your basement for evidence of a drug manufacturing operation. On their way through your home to go down to the basement, they see a cache of weapons sitting on your kitchen table. Some might take the guns to guarantee their safety while searching your basement.

• Police may search your property without having a warrant if you consent to the search. Consent must be freely and voluntarily given, and you can't be coerced or tricked into giving it.
  
• Police may search your person and the immediate surroundings without a warrant when they are placing you under arrest.
  
• If an individual is arrested in a residence, law enforcement may make a "protective sweep" of the residence in order to make a "cursory visual inspection" of places where an accomplice may be hiding. In order to do so, police officers must have a reasonable belief that an accomplice may be around.
  

Example: The authorities arrest you inside your living room on charges of murder. Some might open the door of your coat closet to make certain that no one else is hiding there, but may not open your medicine cabinet mainly because an accomplice could not hide there.

• When you are being taken to jail, police may perform an "inventory search" of items you have with you without a warrant. This search may include your car if it is being held by law enforcement in order to make a list of all items inside.
  
• Police may search without having a warrant if they reasonably fear for their safety or for the public's safety.
  

Example: If the police drive past your house on a regular patrol of the neighborhood and see you, in your open garage, with ten cases of dynamite and a blowtorch, they may search your garage without the need of a warrant.

• If it's necessary to prevent the imminent destruction of evidence, the authorities may search without the need of a warrant.
  

Example: If law enforcement see you trying to burn a stack of money that you stole from a bank, they may perform a search without having a warrant in order to avoid you from further destroying the cash.

• Perform a search, without the need of a warrant, when they are in "hot pursuit" of a suspect who enters a private dwelling or area following fleeing the scene of a crime.
  

Example: If the authorities are chasing you from the scene of a murder, and you run into your apartment in an attempt to get away from them, they can follow you into the apartment and search the area without any a warrant.

• Police may perform a pat-down of your outer clothing, in what is designated a "stop and frisk" situation, as long as they reasonably believe that you may be concealing a firearm and they fear for their safety.
  

What police officers May NOT Do:

• The law enforcement officials may not perform a warrantless search anywhere you have a reasonable expectation of privacy, unless one of the warrant exceptions applies.
  
• If evidence was obtained through an unreasonable or illegal search, the police may not use it against you in a trial. This is often designated the "exclusionary rule."
  
• The police may not use evidence resulting from an unlawful search to obtain other evidence.
  
• The police may not submit an affidavit in support of obtaining a search warrant if they didn't have a reasonable belief in the truth of the statements within the affidavit.
  
• Unless there is a reasonable suspicion that it contains evidence, unlawful items, or stolen goods, law enforcement may not search your motor vehicle. If your car has been confiscated by police officers, however, they may search it.
  
• Unless they have a reasonable suspicion that you are involved in a criminal activity, police officers may not "stop and frisk" you. Should they have a reasonable suspicion, they can pat down your outer clothing if they are concerned that you could be concealing a firearm.
  

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Courts often have to determine case-by-case whether or not the circumstances in which law enforcement searched without a warrant were legal. Thus, if the search has already transpired and you aren't sure of its legality, speak with the http://www.houstonlawyer.com as soon as possible. And in cases where a search has not yet been conducted, make sure that you understand your rights in advance.