Often, police may ask you to consent to a search, but you don’t have to agree. You have rights when it comes to a search or seizure of your property or your person. There is no requirement that you voluntarily consent to a search. If you don’t consent, then police are supposed to get a search warrant.
Your Rights When Police Want to Conduct a Search
One of the important rights Americans have as described in the U.S. Constitution is the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The amendment reads:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
The Fourth Amendment is what protects citizens from intrusion into their lives in the form of random arrests, warrantless searches of their homes or property, and illegal wiretaps or surveillance. For practical advice on what these protections mean during a real-life encounter, resources like the ACLU’s guide on what to do when stopped by police can be invaluable
The basic idea behind the Fourth Amendment is that we all have an expectation of privacy and freedom from government interference in certain places and under certain circumstances. For example, because we have an expectation of privacy in our homes, police shouldn’t be allowed to search our homes without sufficient cause and without first obtaining a search warrant that demonstrates that cause.
In general, you may be considered to have an expectation of privacy — and therefore police would need a warrant — with regard to searches of your:
- Home
- Car
- Cell phone
- Computer or tablet
- Backpack, purse, or bag you’re carrying
However, there are some circumstances when police are allowed to conduct a search without a warrant. Those include, but are not limited to:
- You consented to the search
- When there is evidence of possible criminal activity in plain sight, such as a handgun and a baggie of cocaine sitting on the passenger seat of your car
- When you are lawfully arrested, police can search your person and any area within your arm’s reach
- There was some imminent danger to someone’s life or to someone’s property that required police to enter
- The property was available to the public, such as trash you set out in a Dumpster or on the curb
When police conduct a search without a warrant, or without probable cause to obtain a warrant, then a skilled Detroit search and seizure attorney can argue that evidence obtained in the search should not be used against you in court. If you believe that police in Detroit or the surrounding area have conducted an unlawful search of you or your property, an experienced Detroit criminal defense lawyer may be able to help you recover property that was seized or fight any criminal charge based on evidence found in the search.
