Search & Seizure for Police Academies

Blue to Gold’s comprehensive Fourth Amendment foundation for academy cadets. Built around the Three Golden Rules, CREW, the two types of searches and seizures, and the doctrines every new officer needs from day one.

Search and Seizure for Police Academies is the comprehensive Fourth Amendment curriculum built for academy cadets and other officers encountering the doctrine for the first time. Taught by Anthony Bandiero, attorney and senior legal instructor, the course is paced for foundational learning and builds the framework that will support every Fourth Amendment decision the officer makes throughout their career.

The course is organized around 38 lessons covering the constitutional text, the Three Golden Rules, CREW, the two types of searches (Katz privacy and Jones trespass), the two types of seizures (Hodari D show of authority and Habeas Gravis physical force), the burdens of proof (mere hunch, reasonable suspicion, probable cause, beyond a reasonable doubt), consensual encounters, Terry stops and patdowns, consent searches, search incident to arrest (Chimel, Robinson, Gant), plain view and plain feel, private actor doctrine, abandonment, unprovoked flight, curtilage with the Color Codes, warrantless home entries (hot pursuit, imminent destruction, emergency aid), community caretaking, protective sweeps under Buie, traffic stops (Whren pretext, Rodriguez scope, K9 sniffs under Caballes), passenger control (Wilson, Brendlin, Johnson), and the six warrantless vehicle search exceptions.

After completing this course, you will have the Fourth Amendment foundation that supports every advanced course in the curriculum and every shift of your career.

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★★★★★

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Instructor

Michael Boone

Legal Instructor

Mike Boone, Legal Instructor for Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training, is currently the Executive Director at the Drury University Law Enforcement Academy, located in Springfield, Missouri. Prior to Drury University, Mike worked at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Academy and was a veteran of over two decades in law enforcement. He served as one of the lead instructors for Search and Seizure and was a member of the LVMPD Search and Seizure Committee. In that role, he was responsible for staying current on court decisions, Fourth Amendment developments, and translating those rulings into lesson plans and department wide training.

Mike’s career includes extensive investigative and training assignments. After working patrol and serving as a Field Training Officer, he moved into preliminary investigations with a focus on violent crime and was later promoted to narcotics detective. He was selected as a federal task force officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration, where he served as the case agent on numerous Title III wiretaps, search warrants, arrest warrants, pen registers, and tracker warrants, including investigations that dismantled large scale drug trafficking organizations. He has also been assigned to the Clark County Gang Task Force, overseeing cases involving violent gang suspects.

In addition to search and seizure instruction, Mike taught interview and interrogation, Miranda, defensive tactics, and related legal topics at the academy. He has specialized instructor training in defensive tactics, crisis intervention, gang response, narcotics testing, and CPR, and has contributed to key departmental resources, including the Criminal Offense Handbook used daily by LVMPD personnel. He has also helped develop and instruct domestic violence investigation courses for supervisors and regional academies. Agencies value his deep investigative experience, practical teaching style, and clear understanding of how Fourth Amendment law applies to real world police work.

Frequently Asked Questions

New Vendor Request Form

If your organization requires specific insurance declarations, including certificates of general liability, worker’s compensation, subrogation waivers, etc., you must submit this request by email to [email protected]
Please include detailed instructions if applicable. These requests are completed in order they are received and may take more than 5 days, depending on the complexity of the requirements.

How to download our W9?

You can access and download Blue to Gold’s W9 HERE