 Hi, I'm attorney Kevin Hazelett and the topic is secrets of police searches. Number one, in most incidences police officers are either required to have probable cause or a search warrant to conduct a search of you, your car, or your home. One of the secrets that police officers use or a tactic they employ is to get the citizen to consent to the search. So this is how the scenario will play out. You will either be approached by a police officer or as a result of a traffic stop. The law enforcement officer will come up to you or your window and say, you don't have a problem if I look in your car, do you? This is a question, not a statement. And in most circumstances the citizen, if you're John Q. Public and you're sitting in your car and a police officer asks you, you don't have a problem if I look in my in your car, you believe that you do not have a choice to say no and you allow the police officer to search. If you do, any contraband, any items that are illegal or anything that is found in that search that can be used against you in a criminal charge will be admissible because you consented to that search. Most citizens don't realize that they have the option to say no. If law enforcement officers ask to search your vehicle without probable cause or without accident circumstances or a search warrant, you as a citizen can say no. If you say no, you refuse the consent to search and they search anyway, your lawyer can follow a motion to suppress indicating to the court there was not a lawful basis for the search and you did not consent. Another secret or tactic law enforcement officer will use at your home, meaning they will come to your home or residence, they will knock on your door, they either be in uniform or they'll produce identification identifying themselves in law enforcement and say, do you mind if we come in and talk with you? This is a question. You have the legal right to refuse their entry into your home unless they have accident circumstances, probable cause, or a search warrant. If you allow law enforcement into your home, you have consented to that search and while they're in your home, if they observe any contraband, for example if they observe cocaine on a table, that then allows them to conduct a search and perhaps an arrest.