Blue Sheepdog

The first thing we do after handcuffing a suspect is we search him. As police officers we do this ritual daily. Often, several times during the shift.

But, do we search every arrestee we come in contact with IF we were not the arresting officer?

You heard it in the academy, and I hope you practice it, but every time a prisoner changes hands, he or she should be searched. It is easy to become complacent and just trust your partner. Additionally, I’m sure you don’t want to give the appearance of not trusting your fellow officer.

The problem is mistakes sometimes happen. No matter how much faith you have in the other officer’s ability to conduct a thorough search, he or she can have a bad day and miss something that can be used to hurt you.

Let me ask you this: Have you ever taken an offender to jail, only to have a deputy working intake find something you missed in your search? I suspect that every cop has suffered this embarrassment once. So, if you can make a mistake, why would anyone else you work with be immune?

Failing to conduct thorough searches on suspects has, unfortunately, cost more than one officer his life.

Probably one of the worst examples of what can happen when officers fail to (1) search thoroughly, and (2) search each time a prisoner changes hands, occurred in Tampa, FL. In May of 1998, a man was arrested after shooting his step-daughter. The suspect changed hands several times until two Tampa PD detectives took custody of him. The detectives were in the process of transporting the suspect, when the handcuffed man retrieved a handcuff key that was hidden on his person. The suspect freed himself, disarmed one of the detectives, and then killed both of them. After fleeing the scene with their weapons, the suspect also killed a Florida Highway Patrolman.

I have been told by sources close to the investigation that the suspect had been in custody for quite some time before he murdered the detectives. It seems that after the initial search of the suspect was done, several officers had been responsible for his custody, but no one, including the detectives, bothered to search him again. What a high price to pay for failing to follow procedure.