Drake, getting a warrant is not rocket science. Just follow the court rules and procedures and get your warrant. A search warrant can be had usually on a continuum somewhere between reasonable suspicion to probable cause. You don't have to prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt. It is often times just enough information that a prudent person or an experienced officer would suspect that crime may be afoot. When I went to college and took constitutional law, I was told, if at all possible, always get a search warrant, to assure that your case will have a conviction. In today's modern world of electronic communications, a warrant can be obtained quite quickly, and an officer can guard the scene while one may be obtained. There are of course incidences where you do not need a warrant, such as plain view, but even in these cases I was taught to get a warrant to avoid trouble. You also can search a person for officer safety or use the Terry Frisk or Pat Down for weapons. Let's take the time to do this right, and the Bad Dudes won't be set free, and our constitutional rights will be protected so that we don't have a police state. Someone has to be Policing the Police, or you will have a Police State, and no one branch of government should ever have absolute power. If you are a police officer, and you are going to put a GPS unit on a subject, or you are going to tap a phone, or use an electronic listening device get a search warrant, or face the fact that you may well lose the people's case to the Bad Guys. They will be let go, and it is the fault of the prosecution and/or the Police Officer....blame no one else. It is not the courts fault, they are policing the police for you. The stakes are that the Bad Guys will go free!