Searches Without a Search Warrant

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The general rule of thumb is that a police officer must get a search warrant to make a search if there is time to get one. All of us have watched enough TV to know that most searches are made without warrants because most searches are made when people are arrested. In other words, the Constitution does not require police officers to catch a person, for example, someone who has just robbed a liquor store, and then tell the suspect: "Now you wait right here while I go get a search warrant." No, the officers put the cuffs on the suspect and proceed to search him/her for weapons and evidence before they put the perpetrator into the police car. Thus, the search of the person is made without a warrant.

Keep in mind the Fourth Amendment applies against the government, not private citizens. Evidence obtained by police which was acquired as a result of an illegal search and seizure cannot be used against a person at trial (Exclusionary Rule). However, it is possible for evidence obtained--even illegally--by someone else to be used against a person at trial.

Below is a list of situations which the courts have said do not usually require the police to get search warrants before making a search.

In emergency circumstances: if a house is on fire, the police do not need to get a search warrant to go in and look for people in the house. If, in the course of their search, they find contraband, that contraband can be used as evidence against someone at a trial.
In prisons: searches can be made of prisoners, as well as of people wanting to visit prisoners.
When a crime is committed in the presence of police: if police see a crime being committed, for example, through an open window or door in a house, they do not normally need a warrant to enter and arrest a person. Wherever the suspect is arrested, the police may search what is within arm's length of the arrested person and, of course, if some contraband is in plain sight, they may seize that also.
In hot pursuit: if the police are chasing someone, for instance, a person who has just robbed a bank, and they catch the suspect, they may search the place where they caught him/her in the same places as cited in #3 above. They may even chase someone into a house if they are in "hot pursuit."
A moveable scene of a crime: if police come upon a car, a boat, motor home--anything moveable--they may search without a warrant if the location is a crime scene.,
At airports: the devices you and your luggage all go through, primarily to detect weapons or bombs, are actually searches even though you may not be phyically touched. If something appears on the screen, if an alarm is set off, or if someone is gives them "reasonable suspicion," police have the right to search the luggage and the person. In short, if you don't want to be searched, don't go the airport.
In fields for marijuana: the courts have specifically exempted the need for a search warrant if police wish to search a field for marijuana. Marijuana is the #1 cash crop in the United States--illegal though it is.
At border crossings: as with airports, if you don't want to run the risk of being searched, don't cross a border. Guards on either side of the border can make the searches without warrants. Most of the time you will not be searched unless you fit a profile or unless the border guards have been given a tip concerning you.
Plain sight areas: as stated previously, if some contraband is in plain sight of a police officer, the contraband may be confiscated and possibly the person nearby arrested. For example, assume the police enter someone's home because of possible domestic violence. If there are drugs on the dining room table that they can see from the living room, they can confiscate the drugs and arrest the people in the house.
If permission is given: If you live alone, you may give permission to search your house. If you live with someone, that person can give permission to search the common areas of the house (e.g., living room, dining room, kitchen, etc.) and his/her bedroom, but not your bedroom. If you share a bedroom, both people must give consent.

Delta College, University Center, MI 48710