Boston College police officers acted legally in a warrantless dormitory room search, according to a Massachusetts appeals court ruling.
The court ruling also stated that police who are privately employed have more latitude than government police officers to conduct searches, reports The Boston Globe. Privacy advocates are arguing the ruling may also apply to private security officers and specialized police.
The court’s Dec. 23 decision reverses a Superior Court ruling that threw out the indictments that followed the 2007 search. The court ruled the officers were acting on a legitimate report about weapons in the room, which gives them legal right to search the property and enforce the school’s rules, reports Inside Higher Ed.
During the search officers found drugs and legal weapons; however, possession of any weapon on campus violated college rules. Three police officers and two residence life officials searching the dorm room found a plastic replica of a gun, a buck knife and a spiked martial arts weapon.
After the two students living in the room signed waivers indicating that they had received Miranda warnings and were consenting to the search, the officers uncovered a bag of psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana, 12 bags of cocaine, and paper containing various names and amounts of money, according to the report.
The students were charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of psilocybin with intent to distribute, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
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