This empirical study examines legal aspects of policing in relation to the recent, landmark United States Supreme Court case of Heien v. North Carolina. In Heien, the Court found that objectively reasonable mistakes of law by police can support traffic stops. By doing so, it extends the permissible margin of error for stops by law enforcement officers. Due to the potential, far-reaching implications of the Heien decision, including implications for law enforcement and for the Fourth Amendment privacy protections of individuals, it is important to better understand how the lower courts have interpreted and applied Heien. Therefore, key, recent interpretive lower court case law for Heien is also analyzed. Furthermore, it is also important to discover what law enforcement officers know about the Heien decision and how they may be applying it. This study aims to discern the level, degree, and nature of police officers’ knowledge and perceptions of Heien, including officers’ decision-making behavior with respect to Heien and its core concepts. Utilizing a survey questionnaire administered to line officers, this study seeks to shed light on police officers’ knowledge and perceptions of Heien. This is the first known study to empirically examine officers’ knowledge and perceptions of Heien.
","abstract_html":"<p>This empirical study examines legal aspects of policing in relation to the recent, landmark United States Supreme Court case of <em>Heien v. North Carolina</em>. In <em>Heien</em>, the Court found that objectively reasonable mistakes of law by police can support traffic stops. By doing so, it extends the permissible margin of error for stops by law enforcement officers. Due to the potential, far-reaching implications of the <em>Heien</em> decision, including implications for law enforcement and for the Fourth Amendment privacy protections of individuals, it is important to better understand how the lower courts have interpreted and applied <em>Heien</em>. Therefore, key, recent interpretive lower court case law for <em>Heien</em> is also analyzed. Furthermore, it is also important to discover what law enforcement officers know about the <em>Heien</em> decision and how they may be applying it. This study aims to discern the level, degree, and nature of police officers’ knowledge and perceptions of <em>Heien</em>, including officers’ decision-making behavior with respect to <em>Heien</em> and its core concepts. Utilizing a survey questionnaire administered to line officers, this study seeks to shed light on police officers’ knowledge and perceptions of <em>Heien</em>. This is the first known study to empirically examine officers’ knowledge and perceptions of <em>Heien</em>.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["De Leo, Michael"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Criminal Justice (MSCJ)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Sociology and Criminal Justice","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Christopher Totten","Dr. Gang Lee","Dr. Peter Fenton"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-03-25T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-03-25T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:33Z","subjects":["Fourth Amendment law","United States Supreme Court Cases","Criminal Law","Police","Empirical Study","Criminology and Criminal Justice","Fourth Amendment"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mscj_etd/9","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Christopher Totten","Dr. Gang Lee","Dr. Peter Fenton"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["De Leo, Michael"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Sociology and Criminal Justice"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Criminal Justice (MSCJ)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Fourth Amendment law","United States Supreme Court Cases","Criminal Law","Police","Empirical Study","Criminology and Criminal Justice","Fourth Amendment"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mscj_etd/9"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This empirical study examines legal aspects of policing in relation to the recent, landmark United States Supreme Court case of Heien v. North Carolina. In Heien, the Court found that objectively reasonable mistakes of law by police can support traffic stops. By doing so, it extends the permissible margin of error for stops by law enforcement officers. Due to the potential, far-reaching implications of the Heien decision, including implications for law enforcement and for the Fourth Amendment privacy protections of individuals, it is important to better understand how the lower courts have interpreted and applied Heien. Therefore, key, recent interpretive lower court case law for Heien is also analyzed. Furthermore, it is also important to discover what law enforcement officers know about the Heien decision and how they may be applying it. This study aims to discern the level, degree, and nature of police officers’ knowledge and perceptions of Heien, including officers’ decision-making behavior with respect to Heien and its core concepts. Utilizing a survey questionnaire administered to line officers, this study seeks to shed light on police officers’ knowledge and perceptions of Heien. This is the first known study to empirically examine officers’ knowledge and perceptions of Heien.
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