It is the year 2050 in Washington, DC, and public service officers, formerly called police officers, are flying routine patrol with the aid of their new jet packs.

 

While flying over a condo near the city's center, two of the officers, using their bionic eyes and ears, detect what appear to be a half-dozen men plotting to bomb the White House.

Surveying the condo from their sky perch, the officers see, stored in a bedroom closet, enough of a new, illegal, and largely undetectable hydrogen-based explosive to do the job.

The officers, using the ultra-small two-way communication devices implanted in their larynxes, communicate to headquarters what they have seen. They await further orders.

Questions:

1) Do the officers have probable cause to obtain a search warrant from a magistrate or to make an arrest? If you were a proponent of Packer's crime control model, what would yo r answer be? If yo u were a proponent of Packer's due process model, what would yo ur answer be?

2) How might the legal issues of the right to privacy, the admissibility of evidence, the exclusionary rule, and the plain-view doctrine affect law enforcement officers' use of this new technology?

3) What restraints, if any, should be imposed on law enforcement officers' use of this new technology? If yo u were a proponent of Packer's crime control model, what would yo ur answer be? If you were a proponent of Packer's due process model, what would yo ur answer be?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 In this scenario the officers have reasonable grounds to believe that a crime is being planned as they have detected individuals plotting to bomb the White House and have observed the presence of a ... View the full answer