Law Enforcement Bulletin 

Question: Can an officer extend a traffic stop without reasonable suspicion in order to seek consent to search a vehicle?

Question: Does an officer’s subjective intent in questioning someone turn a consensual encounter into an investigative detention? 

Question: Does the Ohio Revised Code require a motorist to signal for at least 100 feet when turning from a private parking lot onto a roadway?

Question: Does an officer who pats down a known gang member prior to issuing a citation on the scene of a chaotic call run afoul of the Fourth Amendment?

Question: Does the State’s inability to produce a signed consent-to-search waiver render a subsequent search invalid?

Question: Can excessive window tint on a vehicle form the basis of reasonable, articulable suspicion for a traffic stop?

Question: Does an officer need to read Miranda rights to the driver of a vehicle prior to asking if the driver has any guns, knives, or drugs in the vehicle?

Question: Does calling a police officer an offensive name provide probable cause to arrest for disorderly conduct?

Question: Is a suspect’s question to an officer about whether he should get an attorney considered a request for counsel requiring the officer to cease questioning?

Question: Does the odor of raw marijuana coming from a residence establish probable cause to obtain a search warrant.

Question: Does a statement by a suspect who admits to have been drinking, render it involuntary and inadmissible in court?

Question: Does an identified citizen informant who calls police to report a possible intoxicated driver provide reasonable suspicion for an officer to make a traffic stop to investigate?

Question: Can an arrested suspect who invokes right to counsel later waive that right while speaking to officers assisting the suspect in contacting an attorney?

Question: Does the mere arrest of an occupant of a lawfully parked vehicle trigger police impoundment and a warrantless inventory or search of the vehicle?

Question: When responding to a shots-fired call, observing fresh blood outside the residence door and hearing a commotion inside, may officers enter the dwelling without a warrant?

Question: Does a trespasser have a reasonable expectation of privacy on the real property in which they are trespassing?

Question: When may officers arrest for a minor misdemeanor offense?

Question: Can a jacket, worn and removed by a suspect immediately preceding his arrest, be searched incident to arrest? 

Question: Is a person approached and questioned by officers, based on an anonymous tip, seized for purposes of the Fourth Amendment? 

Question: For purposes of inventory search, is there a distinction between vehicles being “towed” and vehicles being “impounded”?

Question: How long can officers rely on facts contributing to probable cause? 

Question: During a Terry pat down, can an officer unbutton a suspect’s pants in order to retrieve suspected contraband from shorts worn underneath his pants? 

Question: Can an officer order a suspect to remove his shoes after obtaining consent to go through the suspect’s pockets? 

Question: Did a suspect unambiguously waive his right to remain silent when, during a custodial interrogation, he responded that “nothing was bothering him and that he had nothing else to say?”

Question: Can officers make a warrantless entry into a home based on an observation of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia viewed from outside the residence?