Law Enforcement Bulletin 

Question: Can a peace officer have a suspect’s blood drawn without consent or a warrant in order to collect evidence of a crime?

 
Quick Answer: Yes, but only if there’s probable cause to arrest and exigent circumstances exist, which strongly depends on the facts and circumstances. 

Question: Do peace officers violate the Fourth Amendment by attaching (and monitoring) a GPS device to a confidential informant’s rented vehicle that’s driven by a suspect?
 
Quick Answer: No, if the GPS was placed on the vehicle before the suspect took possession of it.

Question: Must a peace officer determine the victim and the aggressor of a fight before detaining and frisking the parties involved?
 
Quick Answer: No, as long as the officer has reasonable suspicion to believe that a fight has occurred.

Question: Can a sparsely written warrant affidavit support a finding of probable cause?
 
Quick Answer: Yes, because there is no set number of criteria for establishing probable cause.

Question: Can peace officers use a drug-detection dog when entering the curtilage of a person’s home?
 
Quick Answer: No. It’s unconstitutional to approach the curtilage of a home with any law enforcement tool with the intent to investigate for evidence of a crime.
 

A peace officer patrolling State Route 23 spots a vehicle with no license plates and initiates a traffic stop. When he approaches the car, the driver refuses to roll down his window completely and — when asked to produce a driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance — slides a stack of paperwork through the window. 

Identity theft is difficult to prevent. It’s often not until money is stolen that a victim — let alone law enforcement — knows his identity was taken. But there are ways Ohio peace officers can help ID theft victims, including knowing the services available to assist them. One valuable resource is the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which provides a program specifically tailored to reduce the impact of ID theft.

Question: Does a law enforcement drug dog’s field performance record determine whether the dog’s alert provides probable cause to search a vehicle?
 
Quick Answer: Not really. Probable cause to search is based on the “totality of the circumstances.”

Question: May peace officers detain a person while executing a search warrant at the person’s home when that person has left the premises?
 
Quick Answer: Yes, but only if the person is a recent occupant and is within the immediate vicinity of the premises being searched.

Question: May law enforcement officers make potentially false statements in an attempt to serve an arrest warrant inside a home?
 
Quick Answer: No.

Questions: (1) Does a person’s presence in a high-crime area, along with other general factors, provide reasonable suspicion to conduct a Terry stop? (2) Does a peace officer exceed the scope of the Terry stop when the officer runs a warrant check that’s unrelated to the suspected crime?
 
Quick Answers: (1) No, an articulable fact specific to that person is also needed to conduct the stop. (2) No, warrant checks are a routine part of law enforcement practice.

Question: Can a peace officer make a warrantless entry into a home during pursuit of a fleeing suspect?
 
Quick Answer: Yes, for any crime, as long as the pursuit begins in a public place.

Question: May a peace officer make a traffic stop for a vehicle that is traveling at a slow speed? 
 
Quick Answer: No, not unless the vehicle is impeding the flow of traffic or posing a danger on the road.

Question: Does a peace officer’s mistakenly incorrect statement of law invalidate a confession?
 
Quick Answer: Yes, when the incorrect statement is repeated numerous times and coercive in nature.

Question: Can a peace officer search a suspect without probable cause when another officer present has probable cause to do so?
 
Quick Answer: No, unless the officer with probable cause ordered the search or communicated his knowledge to the searching officer.

Question: If a suspect waives his Miranda rights during an interrogation, can law enforcement use his incriminating statements against him up to the point that he requests an attorney?
 
Quick Answer: Yes, unless the suspect demonstrates that he never understood his rights in the first place.

Question: Can a peace officer make a traffic stop if the officer hears the suspect revving his car engine at a stop light and then believes the car is speeding based on a visual estimation?
 
Quick Answer: No, these are not specific, articulable facts that criminal activity is afoot.

Questions: (1) May a peace officer search a car incident to arrest even though the recent occupants of the car are handcuffed and sitting in the back of the officer’s vehicle? (2) May the officer search the trunk of the car without a warrant even though the officer could secure the car and go get a warrant?
 
Quick Answers: (1) Yes, but only if the officer has reason to believe that the car contains evidence relevant to the arrested occupants’ crimes. (2) Yes, if the officer has probable cause to believe that the trunk contains evidence of a crime, the automobile exception permits a warrantless search.

Question: Can peace officers collect a suspect’s DNA after he has requested an attorney during questioning at the officers’ station?
 
Quick Answer: Yes, but only if the suspect voluntarily consents to providing the sample.

Because of the inherent danger and quick decisions law enforcement officers face every day, civil liability is a real concern for officers and their agencies.

Question: Can a suspect’s outstanding arrest warrant justify a stop-and-frisk if the peace officer didn’t know about the warrant at the time of the stop?
 
Quick answer: No.

Question: Is a person’s consent to search coerced, and therefore invalid, when peace officers warn the person of the legal consequences of refusing to cooperate?
 
Quick answer: No.

Question: Can a peace officer search every part of a motor home when the home’s owner tells the officer that drugs are located only in the front part of the home?
 
Quick answer: Yes, under the automobile exception. Officers also may conduct a limited “protective sweep.”

Question: Have a suspect’s rights been violated when the suspect only hears an officer issue Miranda warnings to other people in the next room?
 
Quick answer: No, as long as an officer personally confirms that the suspect heard and understood those rights.

Question: Can a peace officer request that a driver perform field sobriety tests based solely on the driver’s admission to consuming alcohol?
 
Quick answer: No, not without other indicia of drunk driving.