Kanovitz, Constitutional Law for Criminal Justice, 14th Edition
Multiple-Choice Examination and True/False Questions
Chapter 3: Authority to Detain and Arrest; Use of Force
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Which of the following terms is not mentioned in the text of the Fourth Amendment?
a. seizure
b. arrest
c. warrant
d. probable cause
2. Terry v. Ohio established that police may:
a. briefly detain individuals for questioning when they have reasonable suspicion
b. conduct a weapons frisk whenever a detention is justified
c. take persons properly detained to the police station for fingerprinting
d. all of the above
3. Probable cause is required to:
a. make a Terry stop for a felony
b. obtain a search warrant
c. ask a suspect to take a Breathalyzer test
d. all of the above
4. Which of the following is not a typical requirement for an arrest warrant?
a. that it have the signature of the arresting officer
b. that it name or otherwise identify the person to be arrested
c. that it have the signature of the judge of the court who issued it
d. that it describe the offense charged in terms sufficient to apprise the arrested person of the
general nature of the charges
5. Which of the following is a not requirement for the proper execution of an arrest warrant?
a. party executing the warrant must be the specific officer or a member of the class of officers
to whom the warrant is directed
b. the officer must either serve the warrant or advise the arrestee that a warrant has been
issued
c. the arresting officer must read the arrestee his or her rights
d. the warrant must be executed within the territorial jurisdiction of the magistrate who
ordered it
6. Which of the following is an exception that excuses the need for a warrant or knocking on the
door to a residence?
a. exigent circumstances
b. hot pursuit
c. consent
d. all of the above
7. Fourth Amendment requires an arrest warrant to arrest a person:
a. inside a motel room
b. eating in a restaurant
c. standing on his front porch
d. all of the above
8. All the following are legitimate reasons to use force, EXCEPT for:
a. to protect others from physical harm
b. to overcome resistance
c. to stop people from “mouthing off”
d. to prevent escape
9. Which of the following does not meet the Supreme Court’s standard of constitutional
reasonableness for the use of deadly force?
a. to prevent escape of a suspect who has committed a crime involving the infliction of
physical harm and whose escape will be dangerous to the public
b. to subdue a suspect who threatens the officer with a weapon
c. to prevent escape of a suspect who has committed a felony and is trying to escape on foot
d. to end a high-speed chase over a narrow road that passes through a residential are
10. The Fourth Amendment recognizes ____ classes of seizures.
a. two
b. three
c. four
d. five
11. Reasonable suspicion is necessary to:
e. stop a vehicle at a fixed checkpoint.
b. make an arrest for a misdemeanor
c. frisk a person for a weapon
d. all of the above
12. No level of suspicion is required to:
a. detain a person for less than 15 minutes
b. knock on a person’s door and ask for permission to speak to them
c. stop a motorist to check his/her driver’s license
d. do any of the above
13. Reasonable suspicion:
a. must be based on the officer’s direct personal observation
b. is similar to probable cause, but requires less evidence
c. requires awareness of facts that make it probable that the person detained has committed or
is about to commit a crime
d. is required to walk a drug detection dog around a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation
14. Terry stops may not:
a. last longer than 30 minutes
b. be made for a past crime
c. be based on an anonymous tip
d. none of the above
15. The “plain feel” doctrine:
a. is an exception to the rule that police may not seize anything besides a weapon during a
Terry stop
b. was announced in Terry v. Ohio
c. does not apply when the offense under investigation is a misdemeanor
d. may be used when a detainee refuses to consent to a pat down
16. Officer Quisart, acting on a hunch that Mary Wanna is transporting drugs, pulled her car over
for seat belt violated. He may, without violating the Fourth Amendment:
a. ask to see Mary’s driver’s license, vehicle registration, and insurance papers
b. ask Mary and her passengers to step out of the car and remain out during the stop
c. run a criminal records check on Mary
d. do all of the above
17. Officer Quisart, acting on a hunch that Mary Wanna is transporting drugs, pulls her car over
because she is not wearing a seat belt. He may ask her whether she has drugs in her vehicle
and for permission to look in her trunk:
a. as soon as he pulls her vehicle over
b. if this inquiry does not delay completion of the traffic stop
c. after issuing a warning but before he returns her license
d. never
18. An arrest occurs as a matter of law whenever the police:
a. chase a suspect
b. handcuff a suspect
c. frisk a suspect without his or her consent
d. take a suspect to the police station without his or her consent
19. Police must always do the following to consummate an arrest:
a. take the suspect to the police station for booking
b. correctly state the basis for the arrest
c. seize the suspect
d. all of the above
20. The Fourth Amendment requires an arrest warrant:
a. to make an arrest for a crime that carries the death penalty
b. whenever it is practicable for the officer to obtain one
c. before making a nonconsensual entry into a motel room to arrest someone inside
d. all of the above
21. The Fourth Amendment expressly requires that arrest warrants:
a. contain a particularized description of the offense charged
b. contain a particularized description of the person to be arrested
c. be served on the arrestee at the time of the arrest
d. all of the above
22. Assume that police have probable cause to arrest a man who is nicknamed Sticky-Fingered
Sam, but whose real name is Sam M. Wanna. Police know Sam’s nickname and that he lives
in a five-unit apartment building on 112 North Street. They mistakenly believe his real name
is “Sam Cook,” but are not sure. Which of the following descriptions of the intended arrestee
is most likely to be regarded as adequate to satisfy the Fourth Amendment?
a. “Sticky–Fingered Sam who lives at 112 North St.”
b. “Sam Cook.”
c. “John Doe, alias Sam”
d. “Occupant, 112 North St.”
23. Sticky-Fingered Sam lives in an apartment at 112 North Street, which he shares with his
sister Mary Wanna. Sam is wanted by the police for theft. Having no luck finding Sam
abroad, police decide to arrest Sam inside his apartment. Which of the following warrant(s)
must the officers obtain before going to Sam’s apartment to arrest him?
a. an arrest warrant
b. both an arrest and a search warrant
c. a search warrant
d. an arrest warrant and a forcible entry warrant
24. During a Terry stop, the detainees
a. may be detained as long as necessary to resolve the suspicion
b. must be given Miranda warnings
c. may be arrested for refusing to answer questions
d. none of the above
25.The Fourth Amendment imposes restrictions on the use of deadly force (i.e., force likely to
cause death or seriously bodily injury). Police may not use deadly force unless:
a. the suspect is believed to have committed a capital offense
b. the suspect is an adult
c. the suspect poses an immediate danger to the officer or others
d. all of the above
26. Reasonable suspicion
a. requires that an officer observe behavior out of the ordinary in ways that suggest criminal
activity
b. cannot be based on a police bulletin that fails to specify the factual foundation for the
requested action
c. cannot be based on an anonymous tip
d. all of the above.
27. There are three constitutional requirements for a lawful Terry stop. Police must
a. have probable cause to initiate the stop
b. administer warning before initiating questioning
c. conduct the business of the stop expeditiously, completing it within 30 minutes at the
outer limit
d. none of the above
True/ False Questions
28. Voluntary police/suspect encounters are regulated by the Fourth Amendment.
a. True
b. False
29. An investigatory detention is a limited seizure made for the purpose of investigating the
circumstances that aroused the officer’s suspicion.
a. True
b. False
30. Tips from concerned citizens who identify themselves and report matters about which they
have personal knowledge may be used as the basis for a Terry stop without further
corroboration.
a. True
b. False
31. Having a criminal record or being in the company of others who have criminal records is
insufficient standing alone to provide reasonable suspicion.
a. True
b. False
32. A warrant must always identify the person to be arrested by his or her full name.
a. True
b. False
33. An anonymous tip from a 911 caller that there is a drunk driver on the road made
contemporaneous with the incident provides reasonable suspicion for a traffic stop only if the
officer observes erratic driving before pulling the vehicle over.
a. True
b. False
34. Persons detained for investigation are not required to answer questions and police may not
treat their refusal as grounds for arrest.
a. True
b. False
35. The Supreme Court has created an exception to the knock and announce requirement where
the arrest is for drug trafficking.
a. True
b. False
36. Authority to frisk the detainee for weapons arises as an automatic incident of a lawful Terry
stop.
a. True
b. False
37. Police must take persons arrested without a warrant to a magistrate for a post-arrest
determination of probable cause before booking them.
a. True
b. False
38. If the facts known to the office provide probable cause for the arrest, the arrest is valid even
though the officer gives the wrong reason.
a. True
b. False
39. Police are excused from obtaining an arrest warrant and from knocking and announcing their
presence before forcibly entering a residence when they are in hot pursuit of a suspected felon,
encountered in a public place who flees and takes refuge inside.
a. True
b. False