The most important concept in this area is why we search and our values. The protection of the Public, Staff, and Inmates.Common Searches in corrections include: Pat Searches; Area Searches; Room Searches; Vehicle Searches; Strip Searches; K-9 Searches (detection canines and trailing canines); Scanner Searches; Body Cavity Searches; obtaining materials for DNA Testing; obtaining materials for Urine Testing; using a Breathalyzer; etc. Since there are so many different types of searches, different locations and departments have different rules it is very difficult to be specific in the rules for searches. The following principles will give you a good base for searching: 1. Develop a system and use it. 2. Observe prior to during and after searches. 3. Develop your knowledge of; a. inmate behavior b. places contraband is hidden c. what is contraband/evidence and how should it be handled d. ways inmates try to contaminate evidence e. ways to introduce contraband to a facility f. ways contraband is made and packaged g. your department’s rules, policies, orders in this area h. the physical layout of the search area 4. Be safe. 5. Have the tools you are likely to need. 6. Do not rely on technology too much. 7. Think about potential problems and how you will deal with them prior to their occurrence. 8. Don’t give up. Let’s go over the first two principles a little closer1. Develop a system and use it. A system is important for two reasons. The first is that it allows you to ensure that the whole search gets done thoroughly.(For instance, when doing a cell search if you always start at the door and work left from the floor to the ceiling until you get back to the starting point you will get everything instead of going from common hiding area to common hiding area which often leads to missing areas that should be checked.) The second reason is that the criminal justice system often works very slowly. When you make a significant find you can expect a year or two wait for court. During this time you will probably do hundreds of searches and questions about your search will be difficult even with a good information report unless you have a system that you follow. 2. Observe prior to during and after searches. While it seems to be a hard pill to swallow, observation skills are the difference between average searchers and super stars. Prior to searches observations like; inmate conversations, inmate gang members, inmates who hang out together, inmate history of drug usage, unusually short visits, unusual behavior, unusual clothing (wearing jackets when it is 100 degrees), nervous behaviors, meetings of inmates who usually don’t talk to each other, inmates walking the yard with bodyguards, want to bee’s hanging around STG members, unusual traffic to a cell, several inmates taking store items to one inmate, different inmates sending money out to one address, etc. are very significant and helpful. During a search the behavior of inmates often is a lot like playing hot potato and through their nervous behavior, attempts at distracting you etc. you can tell what area of the search you should concentrate on. toe tapping, voice fluctuation, walking away, getting closer, stopping talking or getting louder etc. have often led officers to items they would not have found without their observation skills. Note that not only the inmate being searched but the other inmates in the run bare watching. Watching and listening to inmates after the search often gives you information to improve your future searches as do your feelings about it and a short debriefing with other staff who were present. Now let’s go over the third principles in a little more detail3. Develop your knowledge of; a. inmate behavior There are many different areas of inmate behavior that are important to learn for correctional staff as you can see from some of the items listed in the prior to a search observations area. Both group and individual behaviors are important to observe. Inmates establish patterns and observing a break in one of these can be very important not only in searches but in prevention of disturbances, assaults, escapes, etc. To know what is unusual you first must put in your time watching to identify what is normal. Normal can lead you to important information also (for instance if inmate Jones has three inmates deliver store items to him every store day or inmate Juarez was not playing basket ball and never does but tells you he got elbowed in the eye during a game of basketball it might aid your interview to have this information) b. places contraband is hidden Inmates change the places that they hide contraband on a regular basis. A lot of times this is determined by what they observe us checking. Some ideas get recycled frequently(in an appliance, in the front flap of boxer shorts, in a cut out section of a book, in a hollowed out section of a handle, door, or wall, in a antiperspirant container, in laundry soap, in a plastic bottle inside a coke can, in pillows, mattresses, bed frames, bars of soap, cassette tapes, clothing, shoes, etc.) and new ideas come in from other facilities, states, books, etc. Inmates network well in this area and to be effective we need to do the same. Resources like other staff, books on how to hide things, looking through magazines for how to hide your valuables items like false outlets, cans with hidden compartments, places that will put whatever you want in a Campbell’s soup can, the Internet, staff from other areas, and trying to think like an inmate [where would I hide something in this area] all can be helpful to searchers. c. what is contraband/evidence and how should it be handled Knowing what is contraband/evidence in your department is very important. Let me tell you an embarrassing situation that I went through to illustrate this point. I was doing cell searches and found two nuts welded together with a wire loop welded to the outside of one nut and a nail(point flattened out) welded to a washer (with a small hole drilled in one side) in one cell and a spring and piece of all thread (with a hole drilled down the middle) and a 2 1/2 inch spring in another cell on the same run the same day. I thought it was weird but it was a month or so later that I found out that these were parts to a zip gun. I endangered people because I did not know how a common prison zip gun was made. The rules are not always the same for instance when working with a Public Defender’s office in PA I could not take a common bic pen into the jail only felt tip pens because they allowed matches in the jail and by packing match heads into a bic stick type pen inmates could produce a zip gun with what I was told was roughly equivalent to a 22 short. In AZ inmates are allowed lighters not matches and we are allowed bic pens. The lighters are often altered to make soldering irons, are used to make handcuff keys, are used to burn through plastic restraints, are often kiestered with tobacco in case the person goes to a detention unit (which are smoke free), and can be easily converted into bombs. There are a lot of other issues \ areas of contraband. Excess items, stolen items, illegal drugs, shanks, tools, clothing(wrong color, altered, food items, hygiene items, cleaning items, items that are allowed but which are in an area where they are not allowed(gasoline in a cell for instance). Knowing what is allowed and where it is allowed is vital information to doing a search. Knowing how to handle and process evidence so that you do not contaminate it or ruin the chain of custody is also vital information. Chain of evidence has some pretty simple rules list every change in custody and keep it as short as possible. What type of container to keep it in is different with different departments just please do not put blood or semen evidence in a plastic bag in a warm area and don’t use a colored plastic or paper bag to store scent evidence. Your department should train you in where the supplies are for processing evidence and where items are to be stored. Remember that while everyone wants to see the shank that you found keeping it in your custody and not allowing others to touch both helps it to get into court and prevents you from some very embarrassing time in court. Make it easy on yourself and always handle evidence/contraband correctly so that it becomes second nature. For specific rules on handling different types of evidence look at the FBI’s standards for submitting evidence to their lab and talk to the lab staff that your department will use. Sometimes it is necessary to contaminate a crime scene in a corrections setting (for instance to render first aid or to retrieve evidence before it disappears a shank laying on the floor in the middle of a full dining hall where you might smudge prints and not get photos of exactly where it was) Remember that all of us are committed to the safety of the public, staff, and inmates and such a decision has to be made quickly and with common sense. d. ways inmates try to contaminate evidence This is an issue mostly with UA samples and breathalyzer tests. Some common issues with UAs are use of other inmates urine, salt or dried bleach placed under the fingernails then slipping the fingers into the urine stream, drinking gallons of water to flush the system prior to giving a sample etc. The breathalyzer is usually just not blowing long enough to get an accurate sample where I work. One other thing I will include in this area that has been learned the hard way a number of times. If you find something do not hold it out to show another staff member or lay it somewhere when there are inmates around it can easily disappear or lead to a major chase to the toilet to flush it. e. ways to introduce contraband to a facility To be covered in a future page. f. ways contraband is made and packaged This is an obvious point and while I would love to do a thorough job of it is too extensive of an area. I will give you a couple examples and let your common sense and networking fill in the rest. I have on several occasions watched officers walk past inmates folding match books for distribution of marijuana and not even see it. I have seen staff not pay attention to Vaseline smeared around an inmates anus or a string hanging out of an anus during a strip search an inmate with his fingers up his anus while taking a dump on dry cell watch, slits in jacket linings, money taped inside the legs of pants, money hidden inside the Velcro closure to tennis shoes. g. your department’s rules, policies, orders in these areas It is always beneficial to know the rules of the game you are playing. You can bet the inmates know them and You are at a disadvantage if You do not. h. the physical layout of the search area While I tend to be verbose I’ll keep this short and sweet knowing what is and is not supposed to be in the physical layout will help you know when something is altered, added, missing and where likely hiding places are located. A closer look at principles four through eight4. Be safe. Follow proper security and infectious disease procedures so that you go home to your family without any unwanted presents. Wear the gloves even though they are a pain. Tell the inmate what you are going to do and what you expect them to do. Have another officer present whenever possible. Search the inmate prior to their exiting the room. Be aware of what is going on around you. Use a flashlight and mirror to check areas you can’t see into before you stick your hand into them. Remember that most inmates see getting over or hurting you as a positive thing to their status in the system. They do not think like most of the people you have had contact with on the streets. Pick your time and your place to do searches to benefit safety when it is possible. 5. Have the tools you are likely to need. Gloves, flashlights, multipurpose tools, mirrors, metal detectors, narcotic detecting canine, trailing canines, spotlights, ladders, bolt cutters, keys, cowboy pliers, UA cups and lids, evidence bags, chain of evidence forms, video cameras, Polaroid cameras, 35 mm cameras, digital cameras, screw drivers, breathalyzer and mouthpieces, soap and water, sanitizer, clear unscented plastic bags, and many other items might be apprortiate for searches depending on what type of search you are doing. Use common sense and take what you are likely to need with you. 6. Do not rely on technology too much. Technology is great do not get me wrong. Yet sometimes we rely too much on technology it is not the total answer. there are lots of weapons that are not detected by a metal detector as inmates prove daily. Biometric systems aren’t perfect either. Nor are any of the alarm systems that I have run into. We tend to rely on systems too much sometimes just as we do with people getting a little lax in our assignments and eventually it costs us heavily. 7. Think about potential problems and how you will deal with them prior to their occurrence. This is a vital rule in all of corrections not just searches. You handle situations much better if you have thought out how to respond than if you just react. Often you have split seconds to start dealing with a situation and if you evaluated different ways to deal with it ahead of time your response is almost always much better. Take advantage of the slow times to prepare yourself for the adrenaline creating situations and a lot of times you can eliminate problems before they occur. 8. Don’t give up. There are two points in this principle. First keep on searching even though you found something because inmates often leave something where it will be found so that officers will quit there and not find other things. Second we all have dry spells kind of like batting slumps in baseball. Don’t give up on yourself. If You do the inmates win and the public, staff, and inmates are all endangered in the process. So if you can follow the principles of developing and using a system, good observation skills, developing your knowledge of inmate behavior, places contraband is hidden, what is contraband/evidence and how should it be handled, the ways inmates try to contaminate evidence, ways used to introduce contraband to a facility, how contraband is made and packaged, your department’s rules, policies, orders in this area, the physical layout of the search area, you follow safety guidelines, you obtain the tools you need ahead of time, you do not rely on technology too much, you consider potential problems and how you will deal with them prior to their occurrence, and you don’t give up staff, the public, and inmates will all be safer.