Welcome back warriors, and merry Christmas. Today is I would like to talk to you guys about personnel searches and why they are important. As a police officer, you will be responsible for securing and searching a suspect. It is my hope that this info will help you out there on the street.
There is no one way to search all suspects, What I’m trying to do is give you more tools for your proverbial tool belt.
You can perform searches with the suspect on his feet or in the prone position. It just depends on the situation. For example, If you are dealing with a dangerous felon I would recommend that you prone him out once you have him apprehended. Or if it is a minor offense, and you feel comfortable or, perhaps you have adequate back up on the scene so you can leave him on his feet. Just in both cases make sure you have the suspect secured and cuffed up before you begin your search.
So let’s talk about searching a suspect in the prone position. Step one is getting the cuffs on him, this could be a group activity so if you need help to accomplish this task that’s ok. Remember your in charge. It is going to be your job to conduct a thorough search. That said when conducting a search of a suspect you should divide the body into sections or zones. Once you start your search remember that it is not a race, take your time to do it right. Now once you clear one zone, move to the next. I myself prefer to divide the suspect in quarters. And don’t be afraid to search the groin or in between the suspect’s butt cheeks. Most suspects are hoping that you don’t have the will to search them there. So it is pretty safe to say if the suspects are hiding something, that is where you are going to find it. So That being said don’t let a little case of homophobia cost you your life or your team’s lives. Ok, so the secret to a successful search is consistency. And you will get consistency through practice. So with that, if you haven’t been getting training or you don’t feel comfortable with searching. You need to talk to your training officer and hopefully, they will set up a workshop for searches your team could benefit from. And if your training officer is unaware of how to do it. Just send him to the website or give him my info and we can get you guys on the right track.
Now let us talk about searching a suspect while he is standing. Guess what it is almost the same thing. That is why consistency is important or at least one of the reasons. The big trick for searching a suspect while he is on his feet is to keep him off balance. I found this is best achieved by having him leaning back far enough to keep him off balance. while he is leaning back you will be supporting his weight. The idea behind this is while you are conducting your search and your suspect tries to resist all you have to do is stop supporting his weight and allow him to fall to the ground. And at that point, you will continue the search of the suspect while he is down. Remember if you do have to take the suspect down to start your search over from the beginning to ensure you don’t miss anything.
So the big take away from this.
- Divide the search into zones
- Consistency is key. Make sure you are proficient in your search procedures.
So That wraps up today’s blog. If you have any questions or comments, hit me up I’m here to help. And as always stay safe out there.
