Chief’s Counsel: The Use of Garbage to Establish Probable Cause for Granting Valid Search Warrants

Law enforcement officers all have received calls about “that house”: a house generally associated with multiple reports of suspicious activity, but responding officers never find evidence of anything criminal. Officers have gone by “that house” many times and have discovered nothing to support any suspicions. They yearn to conduct surveillance of the house, but their agency is understaffed in patrol and is busy responding to calls for service.