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4 Colum. J.L. & Soc. Probs. 87 (1968)
Effect of Mapp v. Ohio on Police Search-and-Seizure Practices in Narcotics Cases

handle is hein.journals/collsp4 and id is 95 raw text is: Effect of Mapp v. Ohio on Police Search-and-Seizure Practices in Narcotics Cases* In Mapp v. Ohio' decided in 1961, the Supreme Court held that evidence derived from an illegal search and seizure could not be admitted in evidence in state criminal proceedings. In New York and other states which had allowed the admission of such evidence, law enforcement officials looked with disfavor on the Mapp decision. They feared that Mapp would require changes in their search-and-seizure practices which would greatly hamper the effective performance of their law enforcement duties. In order to ascertain the effect of Mapp on police practices, an empirical study was conducted which analyzed the evidentiary. grounds for arrest and subsequent disposition in misdemeanor narcotics cases in New York City before and after Mapp. This article reports the findings of this study. In general the data indicate that police allegations as to how evidence was obtained changed after the Mapp decision. There is some indication, however, that police practices in the field have not changed substantially, and that police officers often merely fabricate testimony to avoid the effects of Mapp-based motions to suppress illegally seized evidence. It is clear, however, that de- fendants generally have been better protected in court since Mapp. Desire by police to avoid the enforcement difficulties created by the Mapp decision has led to increased use of techniques of patrol which violate constitutional search-and-seizure requirements. These violations are not brought to light in court because such preventive patrol techniques seldom culminate in the arrest and trial of suspects. Some responsibility for the failure of police practices to change uniformly in compliance with the requirements of the Mapp decision lies in the failure of judges and prosecutors to insist upon high standards of obedience to con- stitutional decisions concerning civil rights. Police training programs, how- ever, have responded positively to the need to reform police behavior. Failure of police practices to change in conformity to Mapp is partly the result of the serious difficulties which conscientious policemen face when try- ing to enforce the law in high-crime areas. Police patrolling the streets tend to balance their duty to obey the requirements of the Constitution against urgent needs to control criminal behavior. I. ORIGINS OF Mapp The practice of excluding evidence seized in violation of the fourth -amendment was first invoked in a federal court in Weeks v. United States,2 where it was held that evidence derived from a federal official's illegal search * Research for this article was done with the financial assistance of the Columbia Law School Internship Program in Urban and Minority Affairs. 1. 367 U.S. 643 (1961). 2. 232 U.S. 383 (1914).

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