Under what condition can protective sweeps on vessels be conducted?

The correct choice indicates that protective sweeps on vessels can be conducted with lawful presence and reasonable suspicion. This reflects the legal standards that law enforcement must meet in order to perform searches in a constitutional manner. Lawful presence refers to the legitimate right of an officer to be in a certain location, which is a prerequisite for any search or sweep. Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard that indicates there are specific and articulable facts to believe that there may be criminal activity happening.

Under these conditions, officers are allowed to conduct a limited search to secure the environment and ensure their safety, as well as the safety of others on the vessel. This principle is guided by the need to balance individual rights with the necessity of maintaining public safety and security, particularly in potentially volatile environments like vessels.

The other scenarios do not adequately establish the legal basis for conducting protective sweeps. For instance, merely observing a crime does not automatically grant officers the right to conduct a sweep unless they are lawfully present and have reasonable suspicion. Similarly, the vessel's status—whether docked or in motion—does not uniquely permit a sweep without the conjunction of lawful presence and reasonable suspicion. Lastly, standard regulatory inspections have a different legal framework that does not automatically provide the same authority for