The following excerpt is from USA v. Furrow, 229 F.3d 805 (9th Cir. 2000):
A "protective sweep" is a quick and limited search of premises, incident to an arrest and conducted to protect the safety of police officers or others. It is narrowly confined to a cursory visual inspection of those places in which a person might be hiding.
Maryland v. Buie, 494 U.S. 325, 327 (1990).
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