Practical case law analysis, officer-safety guidance, and legal updates written for today's law enforcement professionals.
231 articles
Recorded at IACP 2024 in Boston. This question came from Trevor, who is from Canada and says he is not a LEO, but he followed down a rabbit hole and has been watching the videos pretty much all week. He has seen many videos on YouTube of police wanting to ID somebody during a consensual
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Can a Find My iPhone ping provide probable cause for a search warrant? The officer asks: We’ve had an influx of stolen or lost phones, and the owners are asking for our help in retrieving them. It’s been our practice to go to the residence where the phone is pinging, do a knock-and-talk, and if
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A question about traffic stops and drug dogs: if a person pulls into the driveway during a traffic stop, would that also allow you to do a K9 sniff? Anthony recorded this answer in Boston in 2024, before the show floor opened up, because once it does it gets very loud in there with 20,000
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Another roadside chat, recorded at the IACP conference in Boston in 2024. This officer is a lieutenant with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and he asked about calling a suspect over the telephone to inquire whether they committed a suspected crime. Do you have to read Miranda when you interview a suspect over the phone?
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Can you make a search incident to arrest even if you re not planning to formally arrest the person and just issue a citation? Today s question comes from an officer in Colorado. He essentially asked, If I have probable cause to issue a citation for paraphernalia, can I also search their backpack or their person? Can
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So, I received a question from a cop in Texas. He says, The discussion came up during our K9 training group about being able to search a person s personal property, backpack, purse, etc., if it was removed from the vehicle prior to the free-air sniff and alert by the canine. My understanding is that if
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All right, we’ve got another question that comes up a lot: Is a search incident to a non-custodial arrest, such as a summons for a crime where evidence could reasonably be located on a person, legal? This one comes from a cop in Colorado who had watched episode 421 on searches incident to a summons.
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Does drinking from a brown glass bottle, similar to what a beer bottle looks like, give an officer reason to suspect a violation and stop someone to investigate a potential open container violation or DUI? What happened on the sarsaparilla stop in Florida? So, look, this question comes from a retired officer who wanted to
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An Alabama judge posted an order banning cameras in the courthouse hallway. What the First Amendment allows, what judges control, and when filming becomes obstruction.
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