Is it legal for city cops to stroll through parking lots and hotels and apartment complexes with drug dogs?
...then if and when the drug dogs bark, can they run the license plate, get the owners out and make them open up the car for a search and prosecution... ?
Answer:
Unfortunately, this entirely depends upon what the owners of these establishments have previously agreed to with the police. The police and their mutts have the right to go anywhere the public can go. If the owner or manager of a private business or area has given the police permission to be in a place, same deal.
The police cannot invade private areas (like your pot plantation) without probable cause to do so, unless given permission. That is why YOU SHOULD NEVER CONSENT TO A WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF ANYWHERE. If the cops have a warrant, or if they see your grow-op from a helicopter or a public street or a neighbor's house, then you are out of luck.
So be careful in public places. And never give permission, even in a public place. Tell that cop and his mutt that you just ate a poppyseed bagel, and to leave you alone!
Yep, same reason they can stop cars at will in the street for license checks, ect..If the car is in a public location, they can run checks on it, sniff it, just can't enter it without probable cause or permission of the owner. And TwoCrows, it has nothing to do with the patriot act. The law has been like that for years and years.
yes it is they are called drug sweeps and if the dog barks it is considered just cause for search and if something is found then the prosecution is just and legal
Well, they can definitely walk through public areas with the dogs because they're public areas. If the dog "alerts" to a specific car, that is probably enough for a probable cause search of the vehicle. Best bet - don't leave your stash in your car.
This is POST "patriot act" america
Law enforcement can do ANYTHING now. NOTHING is sacred anymore, cell phones, emails, land lines EVERYTHING is being screened these days.
yeah I think that they can... it's called "probable cause"
Absolutely!
I think if they have cause and suppect wrong doings they can do pretty much what ever is required to discover a Law breaker.
If they feel they have probable cause, yep. They wouldn't be out there with dogs if they didn't think something was going on.
Of course it is! They can't make the owners open the car/trunk without a search warrant, but they can keep the owners there until the search warrant gets there. You've got to watch more "Law and Order!"
Yes.
If one isn't a loser drug addict, dealer or trafficker, then one has nothing to worry about.
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