18-5

PLANT CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER TITLE: SEARCH AND SEIZURE G. O. No: 18-5 Effective: 01/27/98 Revised : 02/15/2010 AMENDS/RESCINDS: PURPOSE : This directive provides general guidelines for searches and seizures without a warrant . This directive applies to all members. DISCUSSION : The Constitutions of both the United States and the State of Florida provide that persons have the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects from unreasonable searches and seizu res. Thus, a requirement for “reasonableness” in making searches and seizures has been established. Court decisions over the years have helped define what is “reasonable” and establish when officers can make searches and seizures without a warrant. INTE NT: It is the intent of the Plant City Police Department to make warrantless searches and seizures in compliance with applicable law in order to protect constitutional rights and ensure the admissibility of evidence in criminal proceedings. RULES AND REG ULATIONS : 18-5.1 SEARCH BY CONSENT A. An officer is authorized to make a warrantless search when consent to search has been freely and voluntarily given by a person having control over the area to be searched. A request for consent should be specific as to the place or item to be searched. B. Consent to search can be given verbally but the burden to prove that it was granted without coercion rests upon the officer. When feasible, officers should obtain written consent by using the PCPD Consent to Searc h/Waiver of Search Warrant Form or obtain video/audio recording of the consent. C. A third party who has common authority over the premises can consent to a search. Common authority depends upon joint access or control. For example, both spouses normall y have common authority over the marital home. On the other hand, a landlord does not have common authority over a tenant’s apartment. Likewise, a hotel employee does not have common authority over a guest’s room. D. A joint occupant can provide consen t only if the party who is the target of the search is not present or if the party is present and does not object to the search. If the party who is the target of the search is present and objects to the search then a search warrant must be obtained. E. A minor may consent to a search of their parents’ home if the minor has joint authority over the home. In determining whether a minor has joint authority, the officer should consider the minor’s age, maturity, and intelligence. The officer should also co nsider whether the minor has permission to allow entry to the home, whether the minor has a key to the home, and whether the minor shares SEARCH AND SEIZURE G.O.18 -5 Page 2 common household duties. Since there are degrees of privacy within a home, a minor generally cannot consent to a sear ch of their parent’s bedroom. F. The burden to prove that consent was freely and voluntarily given is not satisfied by a showing of mere submission to authority. For example, a person’s failure to object to an officer’s request to “look around” does not constitute valid consent. Consent cannot be conferred by silence. G. Officers will not claim that they can make a search regardless of consent. Consent which follows such a claim is invalid. 18-5.2 STOP AND FRISK: A. A “frisk” is a pat -down of a per son’s outer clothing for the purpose of detecting a weapon which may injure the officer. The purpose of a frisk is not to discover evidence of a crime but rather to allow an officer to pursue an investigation without fear of violence. B. In order to temp orarily detain an individual, an officer must have a “founded suspicion” that the person is involved in criminal activity. To frisk the individual, the officer must have a “founded suspicion” that the person is armed and dangerous. C. Officers are auth orized to frisk an individual who is being temporarily detained if the officer has a “founded suspicion” that the person is armed and dangerous. 18-5.3 SEARCH INCIDENT TO ARREST : A. Officers are authorized to search an individual incident to a lawful a rrest. B. Immediately upon arrest, an officer may lawfully search the person of the arrestee; he may also search the area within the arrestee’s immediate control. C. If an arrest is made in a structure, the officer may check the other rooms and closets within the structure in order to protect the officer from attack. Evidence or contraband found in plain view while looking for accomplices may be seized. 18-5.4 SEARCH OF MOTOR VEHICLE A. The Supreme Court ruled in Arizona v. Gant (2009) that police off icers may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only in the following circumstances: 1. When the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search, or; 2. When it is reasonable to believ e evidence relevant to the crime of arrest might be found in the vehicle. B. Under the Moveable Vehicle Exception officers are authorized to conduct a warrantless search of a motor vehicle based upon probable cause (which would be sufficient to justify t he issuance of a search warrant) that the vehicle contains e