Also known as: protective sweep · protective sweeping · protective sweep doctrine
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A limited search conducted by officers incident to an in-home arrest of areas beyond the arrestee's immediate control when officers possess a reasonable belief based on specific and articulable facts that the area harbors an individual posing a danger. The sweep must be cursory and confined to places where a person could hide.
Agents arrested Pamela Phillips in her condominium kitchen on kickback charges. While handcuffing her, they heard a soft thud from the nearby walk-in closet and saw multiple open briefcases suggesting recent activity. They quickly swept the spare bedroom and closet, looking only in places where a person could hide, and found documents in plain view.
Officers arrested Piper Patel inside her townhouse living room. Sergeant Ramirez noticed muddy boots by the open basement door and smelled fresh cigarette smoke rising from below. Intelligence reports linked Patel's crew to armed gatherings in that basement. Ramirez descended and briefly checked behind a stack of drywall where a person could hide.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Officers arrested Phoebe Park in the living room above her shop. Officer Cruz saw a second still-warm plate of food and heard a floorboard creak in the connected stockroom. He walked briefly through the adjoining spaces, checking only places where a person could hide, and observed business records in plain view.
Deputies arrested Pedro Pacheco in his home pursuant to a warrant. They permitted a reporter and photographer to accompany them inside. While conducting a brief protective sweep of adjoining rooms for safety, the media recorded the interior and later published photographs of Pacheco's family members.
Officers must possess a reasonable belief based on specific and articulable facts that the area harbors an individual posing a danger. A mere hunch or generalized concern is insufficient.
Supporting sources
No. Automatic authority reaches only the arrestee and the area within immediate control. A sweep of other spaces requires an additional, particularized safety justification tied to the presence of a dangerous person.
Supporting sources
The sweep must be cursory and limited to places where a person could hide, such as rooms, closets, or behind doors. It may not extend to containers too small for a person or become a full evidentiary search.
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No. Items observed in plain view during a valid sweep are admissible even if the underlying offense is nonviolent and the officers discover documents rather than weapons.
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…a search. Cf. Maryland v. Buie , 494 U. S. 325, 334 (1990) (holding that, incident to arrest, an officer may conduct a limited protective sweep of those areas of a house in which he reasonably suspects a dangerous person may be hiding). These exceptions together ensure that officers may search a vehicle when genuine safety or…