Category: Consensual Encounters

Making an Arrest on Curtilage

An officer from South Dakota mentioned a scenario in Episode 713. This episode covers entering curtilage to make a warrantless arrest. In a nutshell, I advised that officers need to be very careful when doing this. For example, if you’re on someone’s porch and you see them standing there, and your intent is to arrest […]

Being Told to Leave During a Knock and Talk

If a citizen tells a cop to leave during a knock and talk, does the cop have to leave? This question actually comes from a citizen, a non-police officer.  I think it’s great that non-police officers are also reaching out to see if I can help them with their constitutional questions.  I want to help […]

Juvenile Consent to Search a Cellphone

This question comes from an officer in Kansas.  What are the requirements for consent to search a cellphone?  The situation was; several officers stopped some young kids that were suspected of throwing rocks from an overpass onto a car.  The officers noticed that they had cell phones, and they asked for consent to search the […]

Consent to Search by Co-Occupants

Today’s question is one that I get all the time around the country and it’s important. So let’s go through it.  Can you get consent to search a home from a spouse, even if the non- consenting spouse has left? The answer is, “Yes you can.”   You can use that consent even if there is […]

Denying Consent to Search

Here’s our question from an officer in Minnesota. Does denying consent to search also end the consensual encounter? All right, good question. If, during a consensual encounter, I asked for consent to search their bag, their person, their vehicle, and they deny consent, can I continue the consensual encounter to try to build reasonable suspicion, […]