Searches and Seizures FAQ
Your right to privacy when the police come knocking, pull you over, or stop you on the street.
» When is a police investigation considered a search?
How private is your property?
What is a search warrant?
What does it take to get a search warrant?
What are the police allowed to do after they obtain a search warrant?
Do the police always need a warrant to conduct a search?
Can my roommate-or my landlord-give the police permission to search my apartment?
If a police officer pulls me over, can she frisk me or search my car?
If my car is towed and impounded, can the police search it?
When is a police investigation considered a search?
A police investigation is not a search unless it intrudes on a person's privacy. In other words, if a person did not have a "legitimate expectation of privacy" in the place or thing searched, no "search" has occurred.
Courts ask two questions to determine whether a person had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the place or things searched:
- Did the person expect some degree of privacy?
- Is the person's expectation reasonable-that is, one that society is willing to recognize?
For example, a person who uses a public restroom expects that no one will spy on her, and most people-including judges and juries-would consider that expectation to be reasonable. Therefore, if the police install a hidden video camera in a public restroom, the action is considered a search and must meet the Fourth Amendment's requirement of reasonableness.
On the other hand, if the police glance into a car and see a weapon on the front seat, it is not a search because it is unlikely that a person would think that the front seat of a car is a private place. And even if he did, society is not generally willing to extend the protections of privacy to the front seat of an automobile.
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