Practical case law analysis, officer-safety guidance, and legal updates written for today's law enforcement professionals.
227 articles
An officer in North Las Vegas detained a man he believed needed medical help, and the office is split on whether that was lawful. Anthony covers where community caretaking comes from, why it does not reach homes, what you are looking for to justify the stop, and what happens when the person says leave me alone.
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A hostile crowd forced officers to drive a stolen car back to the station before searching it. An officer in California asks whether that search still holds up without a warrant, and what changes if the car belongs to the suspect. Anthony walks the four requirements of the motor vehicle exception, Chambers versus Maroney, and Michigan versus Thomas.
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An officer in Texas asks whether he can tow an arrested driver’s car when a licensed, sober passenger is willing to take it, and whether the answer changes when the driver is not the owner. Anthony covers community caretaking, pretext tows, and the North Dakota case where a pretext inventory suppressed a body in a trunk.
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An officer in Arizona asks whether he can remove or reach under a heavy jacket to frisk someone he cannot effectively pat down, and whether a purse or backpack is fair game. Anthony covers what armed and dangerous really means, peeling the onion, and why high crime area plus criminal history is not enough.
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An officer in California keeps getting called to the same ER lobby for the same discharged patient who will not leave and wants to be seen again. Anthony walks through Penal Code 602, why a hospital is not a public forum, the federal screening law that complicates it, and why this one is above the patrol officer s pay grade.
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An officer in South Dakota has a felony warrant, a landlord confirming the address, the subject s car out front, lights and voices inside, and lights going out when they knock. Some co-workers still say go get a warrant. Anthony walks through what Payton actually requires and why asking for a warrant answers your own question.
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A chief in Pennsylvania asks what you actually charge when a passenger refuses a lawful order to exit. Anthony covers Mimms and Wilson, why he has never seen a case on it in twenty years, and the question the judge is going to ask you about why you wanted the passenger out in the first place.
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A Kansas officer s county dispatch broadcasts erratic driver tips but tells every unit to make their own case at the vehicle. Anthony works through whether a 911 tip is truly anonymous, when you need corroboration, and whether the collective knowledge doctrine reaches a dispatcher who is not a commissioned officer.
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An officer in Texas watched a driver light up his car and leave the moment he made eye contact, then slow roll into an apartment complex and run, leaving two cell phones behind. Anthony works through whether that is reasonable suspicion, whether the phones are abandoned, and what he would actually put in the search warrant.
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