SEARCH AND SEIZURE

There is no more important topic for police officers than search and seizure law.  Every call made and every self-initiated activity conducted by an officer requires the officer to know and apply the law on search and seizure.  Missouri officers are fortunate.  Missouri Courts follow the precedent of the United States Supreme Court almost without exception.  Therefore, if the U.S. Supreme Court says you can do it - you can!  That is not always the case in Kansas.  The most notable exception in Kansas is the law regarding search incident to arrest of a person in a motor vehicle. 

Missouri officers are also fortunate that Mr. H. Morley Swingle, the Prosecutor of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, has written a comprehensive outline entitled  Search and Seizure Law in Missouri that is available on the web.  The outline is an excellent resource!  Several years ago, Mr. Swingle recorded this information on a set of cassette tapes as well.  He is truly the guru of search and seizure in Missouri.  In addition, he has outlines and information on the web dealing with Domestic Violence, Driving While Intoxicated Litigation Outline and Animal Abuse.  He is the author of a book called The Gold of Cape Girardeau available online from Barnes and Noble and Amazon.  Take a look at the reviews on the sites - very impressive!  Fortunately for all of us, Mr. Swingle intends to find the time to update his search and seizure outline in the future.  Thanks to Mr. Swingle for allowing me to place links to these documents on this website.