Category: Detention and Arrests

People v Bland and Search Incident to Citation

All right, we’ve got another question that comes up a lot: Is a search incident to a non-custodial arrest, such as a summons for a crime where evidence could reasonably be located on a person, legal? I received a question from a cop in Colorado who said, “I watched episode 421, which was about searches […]

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 […]

Entering Curtilage With the Intention to Arrest

If a suspect tells you to leave while you’re in their house and you’re in the process of arresting them, do you have to leave? So, here’s the scenario: You perform a knock and talk with the intention of making an arrest, right? You don’t have a warrant; you just have probable cause (PC) charges. […]

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 […]