Search warrant
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A search warrant is a court order issued by a judge or magistrate that authorizes law enforcement to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a criminal offense and seize such items.
All jurisdictions with a rule of law and a right to privacy put constraints on the powers of police investigators, and typically require search warrants, or an equivalent procedure, for searches within a criminal enquiry. There typically also exist exemptions for "hot pursuit": if a criminal flees the scene of a crime and the police officer follows him, the officer has the right to enter an edifice in which the criminal has sought shelter.
Conversely, in authoritarian regimes, the police typically have the right to search property and people without having to provide justifications, or without having to secure an authorization from the judiciary.
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[edit] United States
Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, most searches by the police require a search warrant based on probable cause, although there are exceptions. Any police entry of an individual's home always requires a warrant (for either search or arrest), absent exigent circumstances (i.e. hot pursuit of a felon; imminent destruction of evidence; the need to prevent a felon's escape; or the risk of harm to the police or others).[1]
Under the Fourth Amendment, searches must be reasonable and specific. This means that a search warrant must be specific as to the specified object to be searched for and the place to be searched. Other items, rooms, outbuildings, persons, vehicles, etc. may require additional search warrants.
To obtain a search warrant, an officer must first prove that probable cause exists before a magistrate or judge, based upon direct information (i.e. obtained by the officer's personal observation) or hearsay information. Hearsay information can even be obtained by oral testimony given over a telephone, so long as its source has a basis for its knowledge that is either reliable or has veracity, as determined by a totality of the circumstances. Both property and persons can be seized under a search warrant. The standard for a search warrant is much lower than the lack of reasonable doubt required for a later conviction. The rationale is that the evidence that can be collected without a search warrant may not be sufficient to convict, but may be sufficient to suggest that enough evidence to convict could be found using the warrant.
Police do not need a search warrant to search a vehicle they stop on the road or in a non-residential area if they have probable cause to believe it contains contraband or evidence of a crime. In that case, police may search the passenger compartment and any open containers inside the vehicle.
Police do not need a search warrant, or even probable cause, to perform a limited search of a suspect's outer clothing for weapons, if police have a reasonable suspicion to justify the intrusion - a Terry 'stop and frisk.'
In the United States, the issue of federal warrants is determined under Title 18 of the United States Code. The law has been restated and extended under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Each state also promulgates its own laws governing the issuance of search warrants.
[edit] Exceptions
In some cases a search warrant is not required, such as where consent is given by a person in control of the thing to be searched. Another exception is when evidence is in plain view - if the officer is legitimately on the premises, his observation is from a legitimate vantage point, and it is immediately apparent that the evidence is contraband, the officer is within his right to seize the object in question. When police arrest an individual, they are also permitted to conduct a full search of the suspect's person, any area within that person's immediate reach, and any vehicle which they recently occupied, for weapons or other contraband. If the subject is arrested in a home, police may search the room in which they were arrested, and perform a 'protective sweep' of the premises where there is reasonable fear that other individuals may be hiding. Searches are also allowed in emergency situations where the public is in danger.
With rented property, a landlord may not authorize law enforcement to search a tenant's premises without a search warrant, and a warrant must be obtained under the same guidelines as if it were the tenant's own home. But in some jurisdictions, a hotel room may be searched by consent of the hotel's management without the guest's approval or a warrant.[2]
[edit] Preparations
Generally, a law enforcement agency planning to execute a search warrant will make preparations prior to entry to a premises. The officers involved in the search will best attempt to gather information obtained from inside sources, such as undercover cops or informants, as to the layout of the premises being searched and the location within the premises of the items for which the search is conducted. When there is a flight risk involved, officers will try to surround the premises, guarding all doors, windows, and other possible escape routes.
