Opinion ID: 820684
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the degree of urgency involved and the amount

Text: of time necessary to obtain a warrant; (2) the officers’ reasonable belief that the contraband is about to be removed or destroyed; (3) the possibility of danger to police guarding the site; (4) information indicating the possessors of the contraband are aware that the police are on their trail; and (5) the ready destructibility of the contraband. 650 F.2d at 528. We have expanded upon this analytical framework in certain circumstances. In Mora, we noted that the same Fourth Amendment principles which give rise to the exigent circumstances justification for a warrantless search — namely the balancing of the governmental interest in a protective search with the individual interests at stake in the intrusion, viewed through the lens of objective reasonableness — also give rise to constitutionally permissible warrantless searches in what we referred to as the preventive action context. 19 F.3d at 222. In Mora, we determined a warrantless search of a suspect’s luggage, van, and apartment was constitutional, based on the overwhelming need to prevent harm to the public where police had received a hotline tip that the suspect was intent on committing mass murder. Id. at 225–26. In so doing, we relied on the same Fourth Amendment principles we do here, and emphasized, [a]s the likelihood, urgency, and magnitude of a threat increase, so does the justification for and scope of police preventive action. Id. at 224. With these principles in mind, we turn to their application in the present case.