Search of persons

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Criminal procedure
Investigating and charging crimes
Criminal investigation
Arrest warrant · Search warrant Probable cause · Knock-and-announce Exigent circumstance Reasonable suspicion Search and seizure · Search of persons Arrest  · Detention Right to silence · Miranda warning (U.S.) Grand jury
Criminal prosecution
Statute of limitations · Nolle prosequi Bill of attainder · Ex post facto law Criminal jurisdiction · Extradition Habeas corpus · Bail Inquisitorial system · Adversarial system
Charges and pleas
Arraignment · Indictment Plea · Peremptory plea Nolo contendere (U.S.) · Plea bargain Presentence Investigation
Related areas of law
Criminal defenses Criminal law · Evidence Civil procedure
Portals
Law · Criminal justice

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This article or section deals primarily with the United Kingdom and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Police officers in various jurisdictions have power to search members of the public, for example, for weapons, drugs and stolen property. This article concerns searches of members of the public who have not been arrested and who are not held in detention. For search powers in relation to those persons see Search on arrest and Searches in detention.

[edit] England and Wales

Main article: Stop and search

Police powers in England and Wales, allowing police officers to search members of the public for weapons, drugs, stolen property, terrorism-related evidence or evidence of other crimes are known as stop and search powers.

[edit] The United States and U.S. Islands

The police force in The United States of America cannot legally search you without a warrant passed by a judge, unless specific laws are passed by Congress that remove that right. Any person has the right to refuse a search by a police officer, unless the policeman is arresting you for another crime. An arrest made by a police officer with an illegal search can be disputed in court through the right to habeas corpus. Note: Habeas corpus may be taken away depending on laws passed or written when in warfare.^{[citation needed]}