Consent: Law enforcement can request to enter a person’s home or search a person’s belongings. If the person consents to the search and gives law enforcement express permission to conduct the search then a warrant is unnecessary.
Plain View Doctrine: Law enforcement does not need a search warrant to obtain evidence that is in plain sight. For example, if an officer is walking down the street and sees a person with drugs in the park then the officer may arrest that person and keep the drugs as evidence even though a search warrant was not obtained. This exception exists because individuals do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when they are in plain view.
Emergency Situation: If the police are in hot pursuit of a felon and follow that alleged felon into a home or other private area then they do not need a warrant to obtain evidence that is in plain sight when they enter the building.
For example, a police officer may witness a robbery or an assault and begin to pursue the criminal to make an arrest. If the criminal flees and takes refuge in a private residence then the police may follow him and they do not need a search warrant to enter the home nor to collect evidence that is in plain sight or within the reach of the alleged criminal.
Police may also enter a residence without a warrant if they hear a person screaming for help or have reason to believe that a person or property is in imminent danger and that harm would result in the time it would take to obtain a search warrant.
Search Incident to Arrest: Police officers may search the body and immediate surroundings of a person whom they take into custody. The courts have allowed this exception to the search warrant rule in order to protect police officers from people who may have concealed weapons.
Keep in mind when a search should be carried out. You may have a reason to defend yourself if the search was considered illegal. It is up to you to defend yourself against little issues, and to notice if something is not how it is supposed to be. Stay aware, and you won't get in trouble with the law.
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