Part 1
Recognizing that a just criminal justice system has limited power and upholds the unalienable rights of the
citizenry, consider the following scenario: You are a police officer and you are dispatched to a noise
complaint at a residence in your jurisdiction. When you arrive at the residence, you hear loud music coming
from the house that would constitute a violation of the noise ordinance in your community. You do not get an
answer when you knock on the front door, so you walk around to the back of the house. When you get to
the back porch, you see what you recognize to be several marijuana plants based on your training and
experience. As you are examining the plants, the resident comes to the door and begins yelling at you to
“get off of my property.”

Based on this information, respond to the following questions:
1. Can you seize the marijuana plants at that time? If yes, what is your legal justification for doing so? If no,
what legally prohibits you from doing so? What biblical principles should you be considering?
2. Based on your observation of the marijuana plants, do you need a search warrant to enter and search
the house and the resident? If yes, what is the basis for this legal requirement? If no, what is the justification
for this exception to the search warrant requirement? What biblical principles should you be considering?
3. If you enter the residence and seize additional evidence inside and that search and seizure is later
deemed illegal, would the additional evidence be admissible in court? Why or why not? What legal ruling(s)
should you be considering?
Requirements: In your essay, support your views with the required readings and study materials for this
week, or other scholarly sources to support your statements. Four in-text citations are required for this
assignment. Your paper must be formatted using 12 pt. Times New Roman font, with a 400-word
minimum/425-word maximum double-spaced. (Do not include a Title page or Reference page).
Part 2
This week you are presented with the body camera footage from two police officers in two unrelated
incidents. Watch and listen to the officers in each incident. Be mindful of possible tactical skills and deescalation skills that were employed or not exercised. Both incidents ended very differently.
Body Camera Footage 1
https://www.citizen-times.com/videos/news/local/2018/03/01/apd-chase-beat-man-they-sayjaywalked/110950514/
Body Camera Footage 2
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/95090133-132.html
Before you write your essay, consider the following definitions and research findings:
Police discretion is the flexibility police officers have in deciding between multiple courses of action to
resolve a situation in the course of performing their duties. Research identifies several factors that
determine whether law enforcement officers decide to enforce or not enforce laws: (1) the officer’s personal
feelings regarding the severity of an offense and the potential risk it poses to the public; (2) the specifics of
a situation; and (3) supervisor expectations of how officers will carry out their job functions (Ishoy, 2016).
Other studies find that if an offender is a resident in the community where the offense occurs, an officer is
18% less likely to arrest the offender, especially if the offender is under the age of 21 or over the age of 51