The COPS program often shows police officers asking for someone’s consent to search their car, pockets, or home. More often than not, the person consents to the search, which leads to the police finding drugs or other illegal contraband. What would happen if the person did not consent to the search? The alternatives are not as bad as many believe.

Police officers cannot search areas that are within their expectation of privacy without a warrant, consent, or some emergency circumstance. Your car, your pockets, and your home are examples of places where you have expectations of privacy. Police officers know that these areas are protected and can only be searched in special circumstances. They are taught that asking for consent is the easiest method of conducting a legal search. Most people will consent even if it leads to the discovery of drugs or other illegal contraband by the police.

Denying search consent might be a much better solution if you have something to hide. If you choose to withhold consent, the police only have a few options: 1) just walk away, 2) get a warrant, 3) find another reason to search you, or 4) search you anyway. That’s right, the police can leave him alone and move on to the next case. If it’s a very busy shift, the police can just leave and go find the next guy who will consent to the search.

Police can obtain a warrant from a judge, but that is a lengthy process that requires substantial resources from other police work. Typically, you must be supervised while another officer returns to the station and completes an affidavit explaining why there is probable cause for a search warrant. The officer then has to find a judge, which can be very difficult late at night. The judge will read the affidavit, talk to the officer, and decide whether or not to issue the warrant. Due to the effort involved in obtaining an arrest warrant, the officer may decide to let you go if he withholds his consent.

There are several other emergency reasons that the police may use to search you, your car, or your person. The most frequently used circumstance is that the police request that an anti-drug dog approach the place and “sniff” the premises. If the drug dog is not available because it is being used on the other side of town or if the police do not have a drug dog on duty, they may let it go.

The police can always search you without a valid reason. If this happens, your criminal defense lawyer can now argue that the search was illegal and possibly get your case dismissed. Because the police know that you had no valid reason for the search, they may decide to take your drugs or contraband and let you go.

The worst consequence of not giving consent to a police officer to conduct a search is that you end up getting arrested. This is the same position that he would be in if he had given his consent. The benefit of not giving consent is that there is a chance that you will leave as a free person. There is no benefit to giving consent to a police officer if you have drugs or other illegal contraband with you. They will arrest you and you will end up with criminal charges.