Sergeant Natalizio
Village of Chester Police Department
Beat 1: Chester Mall
Beat 2: Uptown Main St.
Beat 3: Downtown Main St.
Beat 4: 1000-2000 Whispering Hills
Beat 5: 2100-3400 Whispering Hills
Beat 6: 3500-4700 Whispering Hills
Beat 7: Pine Hollow/ Knollcrest
# 1: In front of Convenience Store
# 2: In front of Dunkin Donuts
# 3: Pine Hollow Gazebo
# 4: Whispering Hills “wall”
# 5: Whispering Hills “rock”
# 6: Whispering Hills “handball court”
This job is not about what you can’t
do, it’s about what you can do.
What is a search?
Meaningful interference with an individuals
possessory interest in property or physically or
constructively detained by means of a significant
interruption of liberty of movement though police
action.
It can be accomplished by actions ranging from
the actual use of force to the mere submission to
authority.
EXCLUSIONARY RULE
“The fruits of the poisonous tree can result in the
suppression of physical evidence, line-ups, showups, confessions, and photo ID.”
Mapp v. Ohio
United States v. Leon
Hudson v. Michigan
Herring v. United States
General Rule
If you are going to search a person, place or
vehicle, you need a Search Warrant.
EXCEPTIONS
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Search incident to arrest
Plain view
Automobile exception
Consent
Exigent circumstances
Stop, question, and frisk
Hot pursuit
Inventory
Public places
Sole occupant
SEARCH INCIDENT TO
LAWFUL ARREST
Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
Justification: Officer safety and the preservation
of evidence within the reach of the suspect.
Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
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Can search the defendants person.
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Anything carried on his/ her person
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The “grabbable area”
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The search should occur contemporaneously with
the arrest and must be limited to the area within
the persons immediate control .
Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
Grabbable Area?
The defendants proximity and access to the
grabbable area is going to be closely scrutinized
by the courts.
Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
Can containers, bags, purses carried by the
arrested person automatically be searched based
on Search Incident to Lawful Arrest?
Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
NO!
Containers carried or in control of defendant can
only be searched if there is an articulable belief
that that the safety of the police or public is
endangered or that evidence can be destroyed.
Gocki v. Smith
Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
Factors to be considered:
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Nature of the crime charged
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Characteristics of the arrestee
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Circumstances of arrest
Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
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Search cannot precede arrest
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Search should be contemporaneous with arrest
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No arrest/ Search for V & T infractions
Strip Search
Must be founded on reasonable suspicion that the
arrestee is concealing evidence underneath
clothing and the searching must be conducted in a
reasonable manner.
Visual Cavity Inspection
Must have a specific articulable factual basis
supporting a reasonable suspicion to believe the
arrestee secreted evidence inside a body cavity
and the visual inspection must be conducted
reasonably.
Manual Body Cavity Search
If an object is visually detected or information
provides probable cause that an object is hidden
inside the arrestee’s body, a warrant must be
obtained before conducting a body cavity search
unless an emergency situation exists.
PLAIN VIEW
Plain View
A warrantless seizure of contraband, evidence, or
instrumentalities of a crime, where these items are
in open view and the officer makes his
observations from a lawful vantage point.
Plain View
Officer must have a right to be in the position
where he/she makes observations.
Inadvertent discovery.
Immediately apparent that the items are evidence
of a crime, contraband or evidence subject of a
seizure.
Plain View
The most common situations which give an
officer the right to be in the position where he
makes his observation are:
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Consent
Circumstances
Lawful auto stop
Public place
Plain View
Observations from outside a dwelling requires
exigent circumstances or a warrant to enter.
Flashlights and binoculars are OK.
If the officer can’t recognize the items as
contraband until crossing into a private place, no
good.
AUTOMOBILE EXCEPTION
Automobile Exception
Justification: reduced expectation of privacy in a
vehicle and the inherent mobility of an
automobile.
Automobile Exception
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Probable cause the vehicle contains evidence, a
weapon, or contraband.
May search the vehicle or any part thereof that
might contain the item sought whether the
vehicle is occupied or unoccupied.
Automobile Exception
The scope of the search is limited to what the
officer has probable cause to believe is within.
However, the search of a person in such vehicle is
not automatic.
Automobile Exception
The vehicle search can be of the car and may also
include the occupants if the suspected crime or
evidence is such that under the circumstances it is
probable that once of the occupants could have
something on them.
Reasonable cause to believe:
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Drugs, weapon, evidence of a crime
Weapon in waistband
Distinctive odor of drugs
Passenger admits contraband in the car
Observed drug sale from vehicle
Passenger exits, drops drugs, flees
Passenger flees holding a gun
Matches description of getaway car (weapons/
evidence)
Trap in car
Bullets/ Empty holster
Automobile Exception
If PC exists, may search locked trunk and any
containers found in the vehicle.
If PC exists on a specific container, you may only
seize that container.
If you find contraband or a weapon, you may
continue to search.
Automobile Exception
You do not have to search the car immediately,
you may do so at a reasonable time and a
reasonable convenient place.
Automobile Exception
Arizona v. Gant (USSC 04/09)
“A vehicle search is not authorized incident to a
recent occupant’s arrest after the arrestee has been
secured and cannot access the interior of the
vehicle”
Instead: Grabbable area, PC, Inventory
CONSENT
CONSENT
Must be free and voluntary. Any appearance of
coercion would void the search.
Consent search may be withdrawn at any time.
Person giving consent must have authority or
apparent authority to do so.
CONSENT
Miranda warnings are not necessary for
requesting a search.
The request for a consent search must be free
from duress.
CONSENT
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Involuntary consent is submission to authority,
succumbing to the will of the police.
The courts will also closely examine the scope
of the consent given.
CONSENT
Voluntariness is determined by the “totality of the
circumstances”
Person must understand what he/ she is agreeing
to (speaks Spanish only)
CONSENT
Consent can be:
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Written
Oral
Implied
CONSENT
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Consent can be inferred from a subject’s
conduct as well as his speech.
It cannot be inferred from mere presence and
silence that is ambiguous.
CONSENT
Factors determining voluntariness:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Defendant in custody
Threats/ Coercive techniques by police
Background of subject
Deception of police
Language barrier
CONSENT
Scope of the Consent – The scope is strictly limited to
the terms of consent. It is unlawful to exceed the
scope of the consent.
Test- What a typically reasonable person would
understand by the exchange between the officer and
suspect.
Initial consent does not necessarily extend to
subsequent events.
CONSENT
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Only a person with authority and control over
premises or property can effectively give
consent.
If an owner has given full control of property
to another, that person can consent to search.
CONSENT
If 2 people share authority and control and 1 of them
is on the premise, the person that is present, may give
permission to search all of the common areas.
A P.O. must make an inquiry if doubt exists as to the
person’s authority.
We have an affirmative duty to make sure that the
person who gives consent is the sole authority.
CONSENT
Third Party Consent: Can be given by someone who
has common authority over place to be searched:
Small child
Landlord
Rooming house
Hotel clerk
Babysitter
Estranged spouse
CONSENT
Revocation of consent
Georgia vs. Randolph: The Supreme Court held
that consent given by one occupant is not valid in
the face of the refusal of another physically
present occupant.
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In family situation, look to lawful control and
access rather than ownership.
An employee cannot consent to search of an
employee’s personal use area.
A host may not consent to a search of a guest’s
personal property.
A guest cannot authorize to search of host’s
premise.
CONSENT
Apparent authority: A good faith reasonable
belief by an officer on third party consent.
1.
2.
Officer’s belief is reasonable on an objective
view of the circumstances.
Officer made inquiry into the consenting
party’s level of control.
CONSENT
A written waiver is not required but it certainly
can be beneficial to show voluntariness of the
search.
Use dash came to our advantage!!
CONSENT
Why would someone with something to hide
agree to a consent search of their vehicle?
CONSENT
Free to go technique
CONSENT
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They wish to appear cooperative.
They believe the evidence will be overlooked.
The vehicle has electric controlled compartments.
If the evidence is found, they believe they can deny
knowledge.
They think consent will be looked at favorably by
the courts.
They think they’ve “been had” and simply give
up.
EXIGENT CICIMSTANCES
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES
Emergency Doctrine: To protect individuals,
assist crime victims, investigate suspicious signs
of impending danger.
1.
2.
RCTB emergency at hand and immediate
assistance is required.
Not motivated by intent to seize evidence.
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES
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Search to aid victim
Violent fight involving gun
Domestic disputes
Suspicious sounds
Kidnap victim
EDP
Explosives
Chemical or utility leaks
Children's safety
Undercover’s safety
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTACES
Entry permissible if done in good faith even if it
was based on false information.
Premises entry is limited to plain view. It does not
justify a full blown search.
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES
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Scope and duration are limited.
When emergency subsides, cant continue
search.
No pretext searches.
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES
Destruction of evidence/ contraband/ imminent
use of dangerous weapons and no time to get a
warrant.
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Police have burden of proving exigent.
The ease of the destruction of evidence in and
of itself is not sufficient.
EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES
Factors to be considered:
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Nature and degree of the urgency and the amount
of time needed to get a warrant.
Reasonable belief the contraband is about to be
moved.
Danger to police guarding the site.
Possessors are aware the police are on their trail.
The ease in which the contraband can be
destroyed.
Hot Pursuit
Requires probable cause the defendant committed
a crime and fled to a specific premises.
INVENTORY
INVENTORY
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Protect the owners property.
Protect against claims of lost, stolen, or
damaged property.
Protect the police from danger.
INVENTORY
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The search must be done in accordance with
established Departmental procedures to limit
the discretion of the police.
It is administrative in nature and not a search
for evidence.
INVENTORY
The scope of an inventory search includes locked
compartments and containers within the vehicle
as long as permitted by Department procedures.
INVENTORY
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Evidence discovered during an inventory
search will be suppressed it if is the product of
an unlawful arrest.
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Inventory can be done at the scene.
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Pretext inventory searches are illegal.
SOLE OCCUPANT
Homicide victim is the sole occupant of a
premises.
There is no crime scene exception – entry into
premises is permitted to search for additional
aided persons or perpetrators.
ABANDOMNENT
If the subject is saying that it is not his/ hers, they
do not have legal standing.
Anything tossed to the side of the road by a
motorist is abandon property.
ABANDOMNENT
US v. Rem: “when a person voluntarily abandons
property, he forfeits any reasonable expectation of
privacy that he might have had in the property.”
Feb. 17, 2012
Unit 725 in car video
POLICE CITIZEN
ENCOUNTERS
Level 1: Request for Information
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
Level 3: Stop, Question, Frisk (Field Interview)
Level 4: Probable Cause (Arrest)
LEVEL 1: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Level 1: Request for Information
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Articulable, objective, credible reason
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Not necessarily indicative to criminality
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Purpose is to gather information, not to focus
on the citizen as a suspect
Level 1: Request for Information
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Basic non threatening questions which would
not lead a person to believe he was the focus of
an investigation.
Questions regarding ID, destination, and
reason for being at a location are permissible.
Level 1: Request for Information
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The subject may not be asked for consent to
search.
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Subject does not have to respond.
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Refusal to respond does not elevate encounter.
Level 1: Request for Information
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Officer may continue to unobtrusively observe.
Flight without further indicia of criminal
activity does not elevate encounter.
Lying can provide a basis to elevate the
encounter or expose the individual to criminal
charges.
LEVEL 2: COMMON LAW INQUIRY
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
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Based on founded suspicion that criminality is
afoot.
Present indication of criminality based on
observable conduct or reliable hearsay.
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
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Focuses on citizen as suspect.
Questions can be accusatory and intended to
elicit incriminating responses.
A person would believe they are the focus of
investigation.
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
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Suspect does not have to answer.
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Refusal does not escalate encounter.
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Police Officer may follow subject.
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
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Physical control or display of weapons is not
permitted.
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Display of authority is permitted.
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Order to stop is permitted.
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
False information given may escalate encounter.
Flight escalates the encounter.
May ask for consent to search.
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
Officers have a very limited right to take some
protective steps at this state:
ex: order to remove a hand from a pocket with a
noticeable bulge, or to drop an unidentified object
from the hand of an individual in the vicinity of a
recent stabbing.
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
It is possible for an officer to have a founded
suspicion of a crime and at the same time have
reasonable suspicion the same person is a danger
to the officer.
Level 2: Common Law Inquiry
Request for Information or Common Law
Inquiry?
The nature, content and length of the questioning,
how the questions were asked and the absence of
harassment or intimidation is what the courts will
consider in making the determination.
LEVEL 3: STOP, QUESTION AND FRISK
Level 3: Stop, Question and Frisk
Based upon reasonable suspicion that someone
is, has, or is about to commit any felony or Penal
Law misdemeanor in a public place and in your
GAOE.
Terry v. Ohio
Level 3: SQF
Reasonable Suspicion:
Knowledge sufficient to induce an ordinary,
prudent and cautious man under the
circumstances to believe criminal activity is at
hand.
Level 3: SQF
Force may be used if necessary to effect the stop.
Officer may demand name, address and
explanation of conduct.
Level 3: SQF
Seizure of a person:
The test is whether a reasonable person would
have believed under the circumstances that the
officer’s conduct was a significant limitation of
his/ her freedom.
Level 3: SQF
Seizure of a person:
Blocking of vehicle or a person in the police car,
chasing someone who runs away, activating
lights and/ or sirens, ordering a person to put
their hands against the wall or a car, or physically
obstructing a person’s path will constitute a
seizure.
Factors courts will consider
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The officers tone and how many commands were
given;
Was the person prevented from moving in some
manner;
The number of officers involved;
Were guns drawn;
The exact language used by the officer;
Physical contact;
Any other relevant factor the officer can articulate.
STOP
The courts analyze the totality of the
circumstances.
Officers are allowed to draw on their own
experiences and training to make inferences from
and deductions about the cumulative information
available to them that might elude an untrained
person.
Factors to be considered
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Close proximity to scene of crime;
Short passage of time;
Only person in immediate area;
Only person in group who fits physical
description;
Untruthful answers;
Radio transmission indicating direction of flight;
Furtive behavior of suspect.
Anonymous sources
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An anonymous 911 call alone is the weakest
source.
Must corroborate the caller in terms of identity of
subject and how he knew of criminality.
Predictive information which is provided, may
serve as an indicia of reliability.
The corroboration is often obtained through an
officer’s subsequent observations and/ or
investigation.
Such corroboration is not needed in cases such as
bombs, drunk drivers, or in schools.
Anonymous sources
Must corroborate in terms of identity and
criminality:
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Dangerous and suspicious movements
Confirmation by citizen informant
Officer observations
FRISK
When an officer reasonably suspects that he/she
is in danger of physical injury.
Officer may then search person for a deadly
weapon or any instrument, article or substance
readily capable of causing injury and a sort not
ordinarily carried in public places by law
abiding persons.
FRISK
If the officer finds such a weapon or instrument,
the officer may take it and keep it until
questioning, at which time the officer may
return it, if lawfully possessed, or arrest such
person.
FRISK
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A limited touching for the purpose of feeling
dangerous weapons.
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The position the frisk is conducted is immaterial.
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Not a full blown search.
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There is no “plain touch exception”.
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No “empty your pockets”.
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Independent reasonable suspicion that the subject is armed
or the risk of physical injury is required.
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R/S violent crime: Justifies a stop and frisk.
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May draw gun.
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May order to show hands.
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May grab/ remove hand.
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Precise information of a weapon – frisk
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Threatening move - frisk
May ask “Anything in your pocket?”
May ask “Is there anything that might cut me?”
If you know it is a weapon or that it could not
possibly be a weapon – NO SEARCH.
Not allowed to seize and examine papers.
May frisk before putting someone in P.D. but must
have a valid reason for them being in P.D.
Containers carried or in control of subject
Consider proximity and access
Soft container – squeeze
Rigid container - open
FRISK
Bulges:
Location
Outline
Menacing behavior
Indicia of criminal behavior
Temporary Investigation Detention
Reason for stop must be lawful
Sufficiently limited in scope and duration to
accomplish its legitimate purposes in a reasonable
manner
Temporary Investigation Detention
Factors to be considered:
Total period of detention
Distance subject transported
Witnesses available
Handcuffs
Force
Questioning
LEVEL 4: ARREST/ PROBABLE CAUSE
Roadside Interview Techniques
Establish a rapport
Listen
Start with non-confrontational techniques
Look friendly, think critically
Use good questioning techniques
Look for signs of deception
Indicators and Detection Methods
“All that is required for evil to
prevail is for good men to do
nothing”