FOLEY, Ala. - The Fourth Amendment is a major part of being a police officer, Lt. Charles Massey, Foley PD patrol special operations commander, said.

       The amendment states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

    The group of residents participating in the Citizens Police Academy — hosted by the Foley Police Department — learned a bit more about police procedures for search and seizure, and under what circumstances an officer has probable cause to search a person, vehicle or home.

    Jeff Dunn, a district attorney investigator, said it is a common misconception to believe officers can get search warrants easily. Police cannot bust into any house or vehicle and search whenever they so choose. The usual process is for a police officer to obtain facts that support probable cause of something illegal taking place, and then get a search warrant signed.

    And the most important phrase is, "probable cause."

    "I've seen cases tossed out because reasonable suspicion was used," Dunn said.

    Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon offered insight about different scenarios and exceptions for when a search warrant is not needed.

    "The exceptions have to be so compelling that the search is objectively reasonable," Dixon said, noting the key to the Fourth Amendment is "the reasonableness."

    One example of an exception to having a search warrant to search inside a home is an "emergency aid situation." Others are when an illegal object or act is in "plain sight" of the officer, search incident to arrest, open fields, hot pursuit, inventory search, when consent is given and when an officer is doing a "stop and frisk," Dixon said, noting the officer must have reasonable suspicion for a brief detention and must gain reasonable suspicion to believe the person is armed before patting down.

    Dixon said there is a bit of a "relaxed standard" for vehicles.

    "If an officer has probable cause for a crime being committed (in the vehicle), the officer can search it because a car is movable," she said. This relaxed standard also applies to a boat, plane or train.

    Officers cannot search the trunk of a car unless the officer found something in the passenger compartment of the car and has probable cause to believe evidence is in the trunk, Dixon said.

    Whether it is a warrant or an exception, the officer can only search for the specific item he or she intends to find.

    "If an officer is searching a vehicle for clothes associated to a case, he or she cannot look in a small box," Dixon said. "The places the officer searches has to be in locations that the item he or she is looking for would be."

    Considering it could be one misstep or mistake that allows a case to be thrown out of court due to an "unreasonable" invasion of privacy, police officers must be on their toes and quick in the head to react and follow the rules of the amendment.

    "Officers have to be aware of it because you can get in trouble really fast, because we're talking about constitutional rights," Massey said.