You make the call law enforcement questions.

Lawson Police Department,
You Make the Call

Modern Policing is an ever changing and often complicated environment. As new laws
and new court decisions are made, Police have to constantly adapt to these changes in
order to make lawful decisions. Often Police Officers are confronted with complicated
and quickly changing situations and are required to make split second decisions. To
be a Police Officer takes experience and constant training to keep up with these ever
changing laws and court rulings.

Now its your turn to make the call and be the Police Officer. Below is an actual situation
where Police Officer's had to make a decision. How would you handle the call?


			The search was found to be illegal as the glasses case was obviously not a weapon. The court found that even if the case posed a threat, it was being safely held by Police at the time so it no longer posed a threat. Opening the case was therefore not needed and was an illegal search.



			The search of the glasses case was legal as it could have contained the knife that Mr. Smith stated that hed had in his possession. Although the case was in the Officer's control, it still posed a threat as Mr. Smith could have fought with Police and retrieved the weapon inside. In addition, Police would have had to return the case to Mr. Smith, who could have retrieved a weapon for the case prior to leaving the area.

Officer Jones observes a vehicle that has several people inside, known to him to be
involved in illegal drug activity. As the vehicle drove past Officer Smith, he noticed that
the vehicle did not have a license plate and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.

When the vehicle stopped in a residential area, Mr. Smith, the driver of the vehicle got
out and started to walk away. Officer Jones ordered Mr. Smith to come back and stand
next to the vehicle. Mr. Smith complied and stood knew the vehicle as the Officer called
for back up. Once back up officers arrived, Officer Jones asked Mr. Smith if he had any
weapons on him and Mr. Smith admitted to having a pocket knife. Officer Jones then
conducted a pat down search of Mr. Smith's clothing and located an object that was
thought to be a knife. When Officer Jones took the object out of Mr. Smith's pants, he
found it to be a blue case that Mr. Smith claimed was for his eye glasses. The case
measured approximately five inches long, one inch wide, and about one half inch thick.
Officer Jones opened the case and found that it contained several baggies of
methamphetamine.

Mr. Smith was later convicted on charges of drug possession but appealed on the
grounds that opening the case constituted an illegal search of his property. His
attorney argued that the pat down search was conducted for the Officer's safety and
should have been limited to weapons. By opening the case that was obviously not a
weapon, the Officer conducted an illegal search of Mr. Smith's property.

Pat Down Searches

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