Sergeant Exam Need to Study Questions Solved
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Officers can employ force to a subject to gain , compliance during investigative
detentions - ✔✔least intrusive means
Totality of the circumstances examples to consider - ✔✔nature of the crime under
investigation
degree of suspicion
location of stop time of day
State V Simoneau - ✔✔Officers can handcuff during investigative detentions
Frisk or pat-down two prong test - ✔✔1. Officer must have a reasonable belief that
the person is armed with a weapon
2. Officer must have reasonable fear the person may harm the officer or another person
Scope of a pat down or frisk - ✔✔is a limited search for weapons to ensure the safety
of the officer or another person and should only consist of a patting or crushing of the
outer garments. Officers can remove hard objects that could be used as a weapon i.e.
handgun, knife, pen, keys
Instantly recognizable during a pat down means - ✔✔officer may seize an item
discovered during a pat-down if it is immediately recognizable as contraband ie plain
feel doctrine
,State v Lamb states - ✔✔Police may stop a vehicle based on little more than
reasonable suspicion
Pretext stops - ✔✔Vermont has not ruled on this so officers should be cautious
State v Sprague - ✔✔Officers cannot order operators or passengers out of a vehicle
without articulating that by ordering the individuals out of the vehicle is necessary to
protect the officer or others or a crime has been committed
Probable cause defined - ✔✔facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable
and prudent person to believe that a crime has, was or is about to be
committed....MORE LIKELY THAN NOT
State v Brown - ✔✔MORE LIKELY THAN NOT
Arrest defined - ✔✔a confrontation and intrusion based on probable cause for the
purpose of processing into the system
Continued Custody - ✔✔the arraignment of the person or jailing of the person to
await arraignment
Probable cause is normally derived from - ✔✔-officer investigation
-information from average citizen
Information from a confidential informant.
Aguillar-Spinelli Two prong test - ✔✔determines the validity of hearsay information
1. Basis of knowledge
, 2. Veracity
Hearsay exceptions (Don't need Two prong test) - ✔✔Excited utterances
Then or pre-existing mental, emotional or physical condition
Dying declaration
Exclusionary Rule ultimate goal - ✔✔to deter police misconduct
to preserve judicial integrity
fruit of the poisonous tree - ✔✔evidence that is discovered during an
UNconsitutional search, as well as ALL other evidence that is discovered will be
suppressed
Exceptions to the exclusionary rule - ✔✔inevitable discovery and independent source
inevitable discovery - ✔✔evidence obtained illegally would have been inevitably
discovered by lawful means than it may be admissible in court
independent source - ✔✔even though evidence was discovered through illegal
means, knowledge of it was also gained from a separate and independent source, then
this evidence would be admissible
Rule 3 - ✔✔establishes the guidelines that Vermont law enforcement officers shall
follow when arresting a person without an arrest warrant
the issuance of a citation (and nothing further) shall - ✔✔shall not be deemed an
arrest for any purpose, orders a person to appear at court
100% Correct| Verified Solutions-Newest 2025
Officers can employ force to a subject to gain , compliance during investigative
detentions - ✔✔least intrusive means
Totality of the circumstances examples to consider - ✔✔nature of the crime under
investigation
degree of suspicion
location of stop time of day
State V Simoneau - ✔✔Officers can handcuff during investigative detentions
Frisk or pat-down two prong test - ✔✔1. Officer must have a reasonable belief that
the person is armed with a weapon
2. Officer must have reasonable fear the person may harm the officer or another person
Scope of a pat down or frisk - ✔✔is a limited search for weapons to ensure the safety
of the officer or another person and should only consist of a patting or crushing of the
outer garments. Officers can remove hard objects that could be used as a weapon i.e.
handgun, knife, pen, keys
Instantly recognizable during a pat down means - ✔✔officer may seize an item
discovered during a pat-down if it is immediately recognizable as contraband ie plain
feel doctrine
,State v Lamb states - ✔✔Police may stop a vehicle based on little more than
reasonable suspicion
Pretext stops - ✔✔Vermont has not ruled on this so officers should be cautious
State v Sprague - ✔✔Officers cannot order operators or passengers out of a vehicle
without articulating that by ordering the individuals out of the vehicle is necessary to
protect the officer or others or a crime has been committed
Probable cause defined - ✔✔facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable
and prudent person to believe that a crime has, was or is about to be
committed....MORE LIKELY THAN NOT
State v Brown - ✔✔MORE LIKELY THAN NOT
Arrest defined - ✔✔a confrontation and intrusion based on probable cause for the
purpose of processing into the system
Continued Custody - ✔✔the arraignment of the person or jailing of the person to
await arraignment
Probable cause is normally derived from - ✔✔-officer investigation
-information from average citizen
Information from a confidential informant.
Aguillar-Spinelli Two prong test - ✔✔determines the validity of hearsay information
1. Basis of knowledge
, 2. Veracity
Hearsay exceptions (Don't need Two prong test) - ✔✔Excited utterances
Then or pre-existing mental, emotional or physical condition
Dying declaration
Exclusionary Rule ultimate goal - ✔✔to deter police misconduct
to preserve judicial integrity
fruit of the poisonous tree - ✔✔evidence that is discovered during an
UNconsitutional search, as well as ALL other evidence that is discovered will be
suppressed
Exceptions to the exclusionary rule - ✔✔inevitable discovery and independent source
inevitable discovery - ✔✔evidence obtained illegally would have been inevitably
discovered by lawful means than it may be admissible in court
independent source - ✔✔even though evidence was discovered through illegal
means, knowledge of it was also gained from a separate and independent source, then
this evidence would be admissible
Rule 3 - ✔✔establishes the guidelines that Vermont law enforcement officers shall
follow when arresting a person without an arrest warrant
the issuance of a citation (and nothing further) shall - ✔✔shall not be deemed an
arrest for any purpose, orders a person to appear at court
