So my girl works in healthcare and has some syringes with needles in her car (dialysis). I was wondering if you saw that, would it constitute probable cause?
Probable cause question
r/AskLE
So my girl works in healthcare and has some syringes with needles in her car (dialysis). I was wondering if you saw that, would it constitute probable cause?
Comments
I hope this isn’t a dumb question but I’m genuinely wondering
Other factors are always going to matter…
Is your “girl” (idk if you mean wife/girlfriend or your daughter) a doper and also work in healthcare? Because those things aren’t mutually exclusive.
The answer is it depends.
In my state, simply possessing something that is normally drug paraphernalia doesn’t automatically make it drug paraphernalia. It has to be in close proximity to drugs, used (eg a used meth pipe as opposed to an unused one with the little rose still in it), or the intent of the owner on how they are using the item
Here’s what I have for NJ
https://preview.redd.it/6v8bcwiq5qre1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1b973e26f5dc770315782f5f0143e38fc0f9ec8
Not a dumb question. Syringes and needles alone typically isn’t probably cause to a search or arrest. Especially if she tells an officer that she’s a nurse, but that doesn’t mean some nurses have needles and syringes for personal narcotic use. If, however, she has small baggies, previously drug arrests, “looks like a drug user”… etc etc then, yes, they could be probable cause for a search or detention just themselves.
If she’s riding around in scrubs, has some form of nurse ID, clean car, no previous drug history… etc etc she’s fine. An officer may ask about them if in plain view, but I wouldn’t foresee them being used for any probably cause.
Edit: “looks like a drug user” was not the best wording, however I will not delete or change the original comment. I am well aware that specific phrasing would NOT go over well in court. See below this comment for some replies for some better wording. Keep in mind that sometimes there are a lot of factors that build to probable cause, which is what I was getting at. Totality of the circumstances. I was dumbing it down for OP, not as an insult to them, but because I am assuming that they do not have legal or LE experience.
That’s actually a really good question. I think in most places there would need to be other factors to constitute PC.
A syringe in and of itself is not contraband or drug paraphernalia and does not constitute probable cause to search a vehicle. If it is a used syringe with residue inside that is a whole different story. If your girl is in the medical field, the syringes are going to be clean, unused, and in sterile packaging. Any used syringes would be disposed of or she would have a sharps container. So if everything is on the up and up, she should have no worries.
No.
I was a police officer before becoming a RN. I often left the ER with extreme haste (because I really hated being a RN) and had myriad items like this and often remaining legend drugs and used to chuckle when I got home about being stopped and searched with those things.
They got rid of syringes as a crime here awhile back so no
Totality of the circumstances mi amigo
No. A syringe isn’t paraphernalia unless I can create a nexus with some kind of illegal drug, ie. Heroin.
It depends on context. People do drugs with insulin syringes, which are probably much smaller than what she’s using
I’ve never seen that kind of needle used for drugs.