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Someone called the police to report someone doing drugs in a vehicle on my property.

What right does the officer have to ask questions and search people and vehicles?

feetwet
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Lucinda
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  • What country in this in? – Tim Lymington Jun 17 '19 at 16:49
  • Where is the vehicle in question on your property? Is it street parking, public lot parking (ala an apartment complex), private drive way parking(without a garage), or in the Garage? Should we assume that the police do not have a warrant when they knock on the door? – hszmv Jun 17 '19 at 17:00

2 Answers2

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Various cases heard by the US Supreme Court have established that an anonymous tip can indeed create reasonable grounds for probable cause, allowing the police to search and detain persons involved.

For example, the case of Navarette v. California where a suspect was stopped on the highway after an anonymous tip was given to police - the court ruled that the tip established reasonable grounds for probable cause which allowed the persons to be stopped in the first place.

The precedent set in that case would apply to the situation you are describing.

  • "reasonable grounds for probable cause" is an odd and unusual phrase. Was it used in these cases? Most cases allowing searches simply say that there was probable cause, in my experience. – David Siegel Jun 10 '19 at 23:53
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    @DavidSiegel nope, just my phrasing. I meant it to mean that the anonymous tip creates a arguable case for probable cause existing which means acting on that probable cause is not unlawful, which that case basically upheld. –  Jun 11 '19 at 01:07
  • @DavidSiegel I like you man and I don't mean this offensively, but that is kinda nitpicking. – Putvi Jun 11 '19 at 17:11
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    @Putvi If it is just a matter of phrasing, it doesn't matter. What I wasn't sure of was if this phrasing was intended to mean some standard other and less than probable cause itself, something more like the "reasonable suspicion" which is required for a Terry stop. I hadn't heard the phrase before, but it might have been a new standard that those cases had created, and if it was I wanted to know. That's why I asked. – David Siegel Jun 11 '19 at 17:47
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He can't search your vehicle without some sort of probable cause, but he can come and investigate.

Probable cause could include a ton of things in certain situations and something that is probable cause in one instance could not be in another, but generally, when the office arrives, he has to observe something that would indicate a need to search for his safety or that would show a need to search because a crime was committed, in order to search.

Putvi
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    I think the OP would like to know if the report gives probable cause – Dale M Jun 10 '19 at 22:09
  • He can't search it without probable cause would indicate no. – Putvi Jun 10 '19 at 22:10
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    The put that in your answer and explain (ideally with precedent) why a report from a member of the public does not create probable cause – Dale M Jun 10 '19 at 22:12
  • There's a million different things that report could be is the thing. In some cases there would be probable cause is what I mean. – Putvi Jun 10 '19 at 22:12
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    If it’s “what you mean” it should be in the answer - we are not mind readers – Dale M Jun 10 '19 at 22:14
  • So if I have a nosy neighbor and they call the police to report things like this, essentially the police can be a pain in my butt. Is this considered harassment? – Lucinda Jun 10 '19 at 22:15
  • No its not harassment if the police talk to you because someone said you were doing drugs. – Putvi Jun 10 '19 at 22:16
  • @DaleM I don't mean it in a rude way, but saying that you need probable cause to search is in my answer. – Putvi Jun 10 '19 at 22:16
  • I meant if there were multiple police visits – Lucinda Jun 10 '19 at 22:19
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    Ok but unless you explain to the OP, who clearly doesn’t know, what probable cause is and isn’t it’s a poor answer – Dale M Jun 10 '19 at 22:19
  • @Lucinda, no. If they get a call they can investigate. – Putvi Jun 10 '19 at 22:21
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    "The majority of the Supreme Court did not agree, holding that police can stop someone if the information obtained from an anonymous informant provides enough detail to create reasonable suspicion of a crime." - seems appropriate for this instance, the Supreme Court has held that an anonymous report can create reasonable grounds for probable cause. https://www.wklaw.com/does-an-anonymous-tip-give-police-probable-cause/ –  Jun 10 '19 at 22:22
  • @Moo that is talking about grounds for a stop. The OP was not on a roadway since the question says it is on their property. – Putvi Jun 10 '19 at 22:25
  • @DaleM is that better? – Putvi Jun 10 '19 at 22:29
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    @Putvi perhaps you need to actually read it, because it isnt as specific as you make out - the precedent set in that case would apply nicely to this one. We dont need a separate US Supreme Court case to make the same determination in other cases, the ruling made in that one applies much more broadly than a stop on the roadway. –  Jun 10 '19 at 22:29
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    a tip alone can be probable cause, an officer need not witness the basis for probable cause personally. But there must be something about the tip which makes it "reliable". Courts have not been entirely consistent about what makes a tip reliable. – David Siegel Jun 10 '19 at 23:55
  • @Moo i did read it and I understand what you are saying, but a traffic stop and a talking to someone in the yard or whatever is different here. I didn't mean it as an insult. – Putvi Jun 11 '19 at 17:10