I will almost always ask for consent before I search, no matter how much probable cause and exigent circumstances I have. It saves time in two ways.familyman wrote:Please explain. How does it save time?CHL/LEO wrote:Not always true - quite often I will ask someone if it's OK to search their vehicle even though I've already made the decision to legally search it. I want to see what their reaction is and how they respond. Watching their response can sometimes save us lots of time.if a cop ever has to ask you for your consent to search, he's already pre-determined that no exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement will allow for a lawful warrantless search.
The first is at the scene. If I get consent, i won't have to spend time arguing with the suspect or possibly fighting with him. I will not even have to explain to him what I am doing.
The second place it saves time is in court. If I have consent, then my probable cause does not come into play and the search is legal. If I searched on PC without consent, there will probably be extra hearings and motions on whether or not my PC was valid. I could even lose the evidence if I was wrong about the PC, and every judge will have their own personal internal rules on what constitutes PC.