This is an online, Iowa-specific legal studies course. The lesson addresses recent court decisions providing guidance to Iowa law enforcement officers regarding the following questions:

• What evidence must police have to convince a judge that a person consented to a search?

• When a child calls 9-1-1 reporting domestic violence, can that report ever justify stopping a suspected perpetrator who has left the residence by vehicle? 

• When may officers who have made valid vehicle stops and concluded their investigation of one crime continue to detain a motorist to investigate a second offense?

• When may officers executing a search warrant at a residence detain occupants of a vehicle parked in front of the residence?

• When is evidence too “stale” to establish probable cause for a search warrant?

• When will a law enforcement officer who fires his weapon on an armed participant in an altercation not be entitled to qualified immunity in a civil suit alleging excessive force?