The warrant requirement

The warrant requirement is imposed upon all law enforcement by the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. There are seven well defined areas where there is no need for a warrant. These are, in no particular order:

1.Consent given voluntarily by someone authorized to consent and of age to do so (they can appear to have authority as well i.e. if they answer the door) waives the need for the government to have a warrant.

Coercion can take many forms. For instance, let's say you are stopped for following too close. To what, it doesn't matter, apparently in Arkansas you just have to be "not white" and driving a car with out of state tags...and they aren't profiling, whatever. Anyway, one of Arkansas' finest told the driver and his companion that they were free to go, but the car had to wait on the K9 unit to get there. Of course the occupant had to wait. And don't doubt that the K9 hit on the car. They then searched it and found the marijuana.

The basic concept is that they shouldn't be able to hold you longer than is called for in the original stop (following too close) without developing reasonable suspicion for further inquiry. That is one of the reasons that he trial judge threw the evidence out in the above case. They should not even be allowed to keep you waiting with casual conversation while they wait on the K9 unit.Once their business is done, bam, they should be off protecting someone else.

But, invariably, they will smell something, see something, notice behavior that lends them probable cause to search your location. If it is a car you will see that there is a special exception for it to the warrant requirement, but that does not mean you should give consent. If you do, then you have waived any chance you have to challenge the search based on a lack of probable cause which they still must have even if the area to be searched is a car. It is when consent is given that you must closely examine that consent to make sure it was given voluntarily.

2. Motorized Vehicles -- The very fact that a motorized vehicle can be so easily moved was first recognized by the Supreme court in 1925. Carroll v. United States (2657 U.S. 132). Of course if the Driver is arrested there can be a search of anything in reach. And if the officer has probable cause to believe that a crime is being concealed or that contraband is present, he can search without a warrant. It gets interesting when they are driving Mobile homes with safes in them.

 3. Impounded Vehicle Inventory -- To protect themselves the police are entitled to do an inventory of any impounded vehicle to guard against theft. Of course it is a handy way to get around the warrant requirement. 

 4. Search Incident to Arrest -- the search must take place after the arrest (not the other way around) and can include the person being arrested and everything under his control/immediate area. (wallet, purse, car, couch where he is sitting). This is based upon the need of the officers to ensure that they are safe when making an arrest.

 5. Exigent Circumstances -- Simply an emergency. Hear a person scream, kick the door down. You can search for that person you believe to be in danger. It is still o.k. when you find out they were hitting their bong and having sex. Still don't need a warrant then, well, until you discover the absence of danger.

 6. Plain View -- If the police are where they are lawfully allowed to be and see contraband or evidence of a crime, then they can make an arrest and don't need a warrant to enter and seize the items in plain view.

7. Caretaker Function -- If the police find a box on the busy freeway and remove it, they can search it so that they know what they are moving. If the police identify a car on the side of the road for a number of days they can have it removed to impound and searched simply to make the roads safer. 

 This is by no means an exhaustive analysis. Something that would help educate you on this issue would be to study how each of these exceptions developed through the case law. You have to know your rights.

That does not mean that you have to let them know you do.....any encounter with law enforcement should be recorded. Show respect, even if you don't feel it, but be firm when you refuse consent, ask why you are being searched, and determine if you are under arrest. At no time are you to make a statement of any kind to the police. You want to gather information from them, not them from you. You should leave their presence immediately upon being informed that you are not under arrest and are free to go. Leave! If they try to engage you in a conversation about the weather, they are buying time until the K9....