Answer :
Final answer:
The standard governing an officer responding to an emergency call is called exigent circumstances, a higher standard enabling searches and seizures without a warrant to prevent immediate danger or loss of evidence.
Explanation:
The standard under which an officer who is responding to an emergency call is governed is called exigent circumstances. This legal principle allows law enforcement to engage in searches and seizures without a warrant, or with a warrant that may not strictly adhere to normal standards of probable cause, when there is a pressing need to act quickly to prevent imminent danger to life, serious damage to property, the escape of a suspect, or the destruction of evidence. It is a higher standard than reasonable suspicion, which is the threshold for police to conduct a stop and frisk, as established by Terry v. Ohio (1968). Qualified immunity protects officers from lawsuits for civil damages unless it can be shown that they violated clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.
