AboutPhilip Sweeting Expertise Can answer questions concerning police procedures and accepted police practices, specifically : arrest, use of force, internal affairs, recruitment and hiring, constitutional rights and accreditation.
Experience Have over 26 years of Law Enforcement experience eight of which have been as Deputy Chief of Police. Have worked for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, CALEA, as a team leader, evaluating police agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Have a BS degree in Political Science, a graduate of Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command, and the Senior Management Institute for Police conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum, PERF.
Have consulted and testified for both plaintiff and defense attorneys as an expert witness.
WEB: PolicePracticesExpert.com
Question Hello i am working on a Law and Human Resource Project. My question to you is Do authorities need a search warrant before searching a person?
Answer The police do not need a search warrant to search a person BUT they do need probable cause to search a person. In other words they need a reason to suspect you may have been involved in a crime and or you have contraband on you.
They cannot just stop someone for no reason, traffic infraction, etc. and search them.
For instance, in FL there is the stop and frisk law which permits the police to pat down (pat down is the term for feeling/patting the outer clothing) someone down for a weapon under suspicious circumstances. But the key word is WEAPON...the law does not allow the police to search your pockets for items that are not weapons. If they can legally pat you down and if they feel something they believe could be a weapon then they could go into your pocket to get it...
BUT if they feel something that is not a weapon...such as what they believe may be bag of marijuana...they could not legally search the interior of your pocket to get the marijuana...
BUT if they can go into your pocket to get what they believe is a weapon and discover the marijuana as a result then they can arrest you for the marijuana.
For example if a police officer sees you behind some closed businesses late at night he can detain and question you in order to determine why you are there... in addition he could pat/search you down for his safety if he was concerned you may have a weapon. If the pat down is legal and as a result something illegal is found then you could be arrested.
There are numerous courts cases that you can research on the Internet that deals with this issue so what one court may rule as legal a higher court may rule illegal..
In addition the police can always search anyone they arrest and they can search someone if they give permission/consent to be searched.
