07-075/01 Strip and Visual Body Cavity Searches

PURPOSE OF ORDER:    

The purpose of this unit order is to establish procedures for conducting strip or visual body cavity searches.

SCOPE OF ORDER:         

This order applies to all personnel assigned to and/or working at the North County

Correctional Facility (NCCF).

ORDER:

When circumstances require a more thorough search than a pat down/cursory search, a strip or visual body cavity search shall be conducted. 

When operationally practical, every effort shall be made to conduct these searches in a location equipped with privacy screens or partitions. In instances when the search is being conducted in an area where privacy screens or partitions are unavailable, Department personnel shall take all reasonable measures to ensure the inmate is protected from undue distress or embarrassment (e.g., smaller groups, single line searches, restricting access to uninvolved persons, etc.).

All strip and visual body cavity searches shall be conducted by personnel of the same gender as the inmate being searched, unless exigent or emergency circumstances exist. In the event exigent circumstances require that a person of the opposite gender participate in a strip search, all reasonable actions shall be taken to prevent the person of the opposite gender from viewing the body cavities, buttocks, or genitalia of the person being searched.

Department personnel shall not deliberately touch the buttocks or genitalia of the person being searched.

Prior to any search, the line sergeant shall be notified prior to the start of the search, and the line sergeant or supervising line deputy must be present during the entire search. All strip and visual body cavity searches shall be audio recorded and be stored for future access and review in accordance with CDM section 7-06/010.00, “Video and Audio Recording Procedures”. For more information on strip and visual body cavity searches, refer to Custody Division Manual section 5-08/010.00, “Searches.”

Routine initiation of Strip Searches and Visual Body Cavity Searches

Inmates may be routinely subject to a strip or visual body cavity search for jail security or the safety of custodial personnel and other inmates. Strip or visual body cavity search shall be conducted within the Inmate Processing Area (IPA) on any of the following:

• Inmates transferring to NCCF from any other facility (e.g.,

North, South, TTCF, MCJ, state prison, etc.)

• Inmates returning from court
• Inmates returning from work assignments who have privileged access to

facility equipment that could possibly be used as a weapon or other forms of contraband

• Inmates returning from hospitalization or any other form of medical

treatment which required the inmate to leave the facility

In addition, an inmate may be subject to a strip and visual body cavity search when Department personnel reasonably suspect, based on specific and articulable facts, that the inmate is concealing a weapon, drugs, or contraband, and the search may reveal such.

All searches conducted outside of the IPA shall uphold the listed standards for strip and visual body cavity searches and shall have prior approval and supervision from the line sergeant or supervising line deputy.

Limitations to Strip Searches and Visual Body Cavity Searches

Absent exigent circumstances, Department personnel shall not conduct a strip search or visual body cavity search of an inmate alone. Personnel conducting the search shall not conduct the search in a sequence that requires any inmate to place their hands inside their mouth, proceeding any other performance of the search. All oral cavity search instructions with the use of the inmates’ hands/fingers shall be given to the inmate at the beginning of the search.