Which of the following are the requirements for hot pursuit?

• A. Probable cause; no entry required; immediate search permission.
• B. Warrant; probable cause of crime; time of day.
• C. Probable cause; person has entered REP location; continuous pursuit.
• D. Reasonable suspicion; location; stop and frisk.

Answer: (C)

Hot pursuit allows officers to enter a place where a suspect has a reasonable expectation of privacy without a warrant when they are actively chasing a suspect who has committed a crime and is escaping. The essential elements are that there must be probable cause to believe the person committed the crime, the pursuit has entered a location protected by privacy expectations (such as a home or similarly private space), and the pursuit is continuous to prevent the suspect’s escape.

Probable cause ensures there’s credible basis to link the suspect to the crime. The location with a reasonable expectation of privacy is what makes warrantless entry permissible under exigent circumstances during a hot pursuit. And the continuous nature of the chase keeps the urgency and necessity of action clear—if there’s a break in pursuit, the justification for entering without a warrant weakens.

The other options misstate key points: hot pursuit does involve entry without a warrant when exigent conditions exist; a warrant and time-of-day constraints aren’t the standard requirements; and a lower threshold like reasonable suspicion isn’t enough for this scenario. Also, hot pursuit is not about stop-and-frisk.