Question

Jasper robs the home of Peter and Carly, two meth dealers. He steals expensive jewelry, meth equipment, and meth. You are the assigned detective to the robbery and receive a reliable tip that Jasper has stashed the goods in his home. You want to use thermal imaging to detect the presence of the stolen items. A senior detective advises you that you do not need a warrant. Based upon your reading of Kyllo v. United States, what should you do? How does the court’s decision reinforce ethical behavior and constitutional limits on law-enforcement officers? Write a journal assignment that addresses these questions. Refer to your textbook and relevant scholarly sources to support the points and observations made in your journal assignment

Answer 1

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects persons and their property from unreasonable searches by the government. In the Kyllo's case, the police obtained evidence of a marijuana growing operation inside Kyllo’s home, by using a thermal imaging device from outside the home. The police used the device to gather evidence to support issuance of a search warrant for the home.

In this case, I as the detective will use thermal imaging to get some details about the stolen items from outside Jasper's house. The evidence provided by this thermal imaging will provide me enough evidence to obtain a search warrant into Jasper's house.  Based on the fourth amendment of the constitution, the detective cannot get a search warrant into the defendant's home unless they have provided a convincing evidence that an illegal item is contained in the defendant's house.