Isn t refusing to let the police search me an admission of guilt?
No. If a police officer asks your permission to search, you are under no obligation to consent. The only reason he s asking you is because he doesn t have enough evidence to search without your consent. If you consent to a search request you give up one of the most important constitutional rights you have — your Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable consent. A majority of avoidable, improper police searches occur because citizens naively waive their Fourth Amendment rights by consenting to warrantless searches. As a general rule, if a person consents to a warrantless search, the search automatically becomes legal. Consequently, whatever an officer finds during such a search can be used to convict the person. Don’t expect a police officer to tell you about your right not to consent. Police officers are not required by law to inform you of your rights before asking you to consent to a search. In addition, police are prepared to use their authority to get people to consent to