Can Police Search a Shoplifters Purse for Evidence Without a Formal Arrest?
A Roadside Chat question from an officer in Colorado: can police search a shoplifting suspect’s purse for evidence without making an arrest? The call came out of a Dollar General shoplifting report. Can police search a shoplifting suspect’s purse without making an arrest? The answer is going to be yes. Definitely yes in Colorado, but […]
Can Police Demand ID During Consensual Encounter?
Recorded at IACP 2024 in Boston. This question came from Trevor, who is from Canada and says he is not a LEO, but he followed down a rabbit hole and has been watching the videos pretty much all week. He has seen many videos on YouTube of police wanting to ID somebody during a consensual […]
Can You Detain for a Fake ID?
CAN YOU DETAIN A PERSON FOR FALSE ID? This question comes from an officer in Iowa. Can a person be detained if they give you a false name during a consensual encounter? You’re having a consensual contact and you ask the person to provide their name and date of birth. They give you a name […]
Detention for Criminal Trespass
Here is our next question: Can police detain someone to issue a criminal trespass warning if they leave the location after being warned? I’ll explain what’s kind of going on here. This officer is in Texas. He asks: If a business owner or homeowner has told a subject to leave their property, and that subject […]
Pat-down on An Overdose Suspect
Can you patdown an overdose suspect? This question comes from an officer in Wisconsin. The officer says, “You respond and revive a suspected overdose patient. Can you conduct a patdown prior to them being transported by EMS? This is for the safety of the staff, due to drug abusers commonly carrying tools related to their […]
Asking Suspect in Custody for Consent to Search
“My question is, if you place a person under arrest, let’s say for driving while suspended, can you ask them while they are in custody for consent to search the vehicle?” My name is Anthony Bandiero, attorney and senior legal instructor for Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training. This question comes from officer in Kansas. […]
Searching a Person Without an Arrest
“Can you search a person for evidence if you have probable cause?” In other words, do you have to make the arrest? Let’s go through a couple scenarios with the officer. One is basically that the officer had a consensual encounter with a suspect that he knows from prior arrests. He’s your neighborhood felon, that […]
Asking Suspect in Custody for Consent to Search
My name is Anthony Bandiero, attorney and senior legal instructor for Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training. This question comes from officer in Kansas. “My question is, if you place a person under arrest, let’s say for driving while suspended, can you ask them while they are in custody for consent to search the vehicle?” […]