This blog is the final installment of our six-part series answering questions of interest to the hospitality industry. This blog focuses on police officers on hotel property. Please see our December 14, 2017 article for an introduction to this series of blogs.
The answers below are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem.
- If the local police ask for a guest registry without a warrant, does the hotel have to provide one?
No, the hotel does not have to provide the guest registry if the police are unable to provide a valid warrant. City of Los Angeles v. Patel, 135 S. Ct. 2443, 2448 (2015).
- Does the hotel have to allow the police to sit outside and write down license plates of the guests if they want to?
It is unlikely that a hotel could prevent police from recording license plate numbers outside the hotel, as the reasonable expectation of privacy would not exist in a parking lot where the license plates are publicly visible.
