Section 9.35 Protective Sweep

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

c. (§9.35) Protective Sweep

Another type of search conducted for officer safety is the protective sweep, Md. v. Buie, 494 U.S. 325 (1990), which is a “quick and limited search of the premises, incident to arrest and conducted to protect the safety of police officers and others.” Id. at 327; accord State v. Mahsman, 157 S.W.3d 245, 250 (Mo. App. E.D. 2004). When officers have a need to enter premises and have a legitimate right to do so, they have a limited right to search for individuals who could present a danger to their mission. See State v. Rogers, 825 S.W.2d 49, 53 (Mo. App. W.D. 1992) (officers have “a right to make a protective search of the house to ascertain that they [are] not in danger of an ambush by someone in the house”); see alsoState v. Duncan, 866 S.W.2d 510, 512 (Mo. App. W.D. 1993). An arrest in the home is a prerequisite to a valid protective sweep...