how important do you think the officer's years of experience is in determining if a warrant is necessary?

Answer 1

I may ruffle a feather or two and not to impune others knowledge...but I disagree if one thinks an officers "experience" has no bearing on the issuance of a search warrant.

I guarantee you that my own search warrants include phrases such as "based upon my training and experience" throughout the warrant affidavit.

It's because the officer has to convince the judge that based upon his/her experience he believes (has probable cause) that evidence of an offense has occurred and fruits of that crime are present at the place to be searched.

If I conduct an investigation where I smell the odor of a specific drug...it's my experience and training thats cited in the search warrant that allows the judge to determine if I'm qualified to say what the drug smells like.

It's that officers training and experience and the articulation of the officers reasonable belief and any additional probable cause that a judge bases his/her decision on whether or not to issue the search warrant.

Answer 2

Years of experience have no impact.

A judge is the one that determines if a warrant is necessary, not the officer.

The officer just provides the information. The judge uses the information to issue a warrant, he does not consider how many years the officer has, he considers if there is probable cause based on the facts.

Answer 3

I think the previous answerers misunderstood the question. You are asking if experience will help an officer determine whether he/she has the authority to search without a warrant OR whether a warrant is necessary. Warrants are NOT always necessary (as stated above). An officer can search if he/she has probable cause. Exactly what constitutes "probable cause" is tricky to determine. An experienced police offier is probably better able to make that determination than a rookie.

Answer 4

since all searches require a warrant, the officer would have to obtain one unless the circumstances fall under certain exceptions, in which narrowly defined conditions must be met for an officer to proceed w/o a warrant.

so experience should have no bearing whatsoever.

Answer 5

Depends, is the basis of the warrant on his observations? Then his experience may be a factor.

Answer 6

It shouldn't be a factor. The only thing that should matter is the weight of the evidence.