Is it legal for a male police to search a female?

Question

I was a passenger in a car when it got pulled over. The officier didn't give a reason for pulling us over, but asked to search the car. When nothing was found in the car the officier told the driver, a male, and I to get out and put our hands on the hood, then he searched us. Later the officier told me i was being charged for riding with no seatbelt, which i had been wearing, and that I had old warrents for traffic violations, so i would have to be taken in. Also he told me the riding with no seat belt would get thrown out of court so I shouldn't worry about it. The driver of the car only recieved a ticket because he had just moved to a different apartment and hadn't change his old address on his license.again he was told that it would probably get thrown out of court by the officier.

Answer 1

strip search would not necessarily legal-pat down is legal especially if the officer was worried about his safety.

Answer 2

In this instance the officer does appear to be exercising his duties properly. If someone in the car is commiting an offence or is suspected of commiting an offence the car may be stopped. If there is an active warrant against you and you are arrested the officer was well within his power to search you. A male officer, under law, may search a female offender. He may also strip search (in theory, under law), HOWEVER, policy of the department will dictate that a male officer cannot strip search a female.
In short, because there was a warrant the officer was doing his job as he should. No officer, in my experience, would give any legal advice i.e. "again he was told that it would probably get thrown out of court by the officier". Because the officer cannot give legal advice.

Sort out your traffic violations as per the law and you would not have been arrested. Simple.

Answer 3

It sounds like your officer was bored.
In order to initiate a traffic stop, the officer has to have a reason to do so. If there is no reason, or it's not a valid reason, anything that you are charged with can, and probably will, get thrown out of court... which is what he told you. If anything illegal had been found in the car, any charges involved with that could have been tossed out too, simply because he had no reason to stop you (bad tail light, no turn signal, speeding, ran a stop sign, etc.)

Warrants don't count in that process.

Yes he can search you. Departments have varying policies on this. Some will just make you sit there on the curb while they wait for a female officer, others will make sure there is another officer, present.

Answer 4

If a male officer believes that a female has a weapon or drugs on her, he can do a pat down, which he did. But a strip search must be performed in the presence of someone of the same gender. Cavity searches can only be carried out by a doctor in the presence of someone of the same gender, even if the doctor is of the same sex.

You have the right to ask why the officer pulled you over, and why he asked to search your car. This is why they have warrants for searching your house. It details why they are doing it and probably what they expect to find.

If it was only riding without a seatbelt, he should have written you a ticket. Not searched your car and given you a pat down. Even if you do have other traffic violations.

Answer 5

It is perfectly legal for a male officer to search a female. To expect an officer to call for a female backup just to search a traffic stop is a bit of a pipe dream. Also, an officer does not have to state his reason for pulling you over. Try to remember that most officers have training on how to profile drug cars, perhaps your car met some of those criteria or you were just suspicious in some way. I am in no way accusing you of criminal activity or drug use, but people do stereotype about those things. Also, as you had warrants out for you, he was well within his rights to take you in.

Answer 6

In general if there is a female police officer on scene then she will pat down the female suspects, however if there is only male officers than they may do a pat down on you. It sounds like the police officer pulled you over on drug suspision. He found no drugs but took you in for warrents (we must do this if the suspect has any type of warrants). Everything that you described is legit and anyone who tells you otherwise is full of it.

Answer 7

Hard to tell what your question is. Are you saying that the officer touched you inappropriately and you want to make a complaint to the police department so that they'll conduct an internal investigation and find that the officer acted improperly and now has to give you ten thousand dollars so you'll feel better, or are you mad because you got a ticket and they found out you were wanted because you're a habitual criminal?

Answer 8

A male Police officer cannot search a female. In my state only a simple patdown (pants pockets) with the outside of their hand is allowed. Usually if a female officer is working, they will call her to the scene.

Answer 9

If the police officer suspects that a female may be carrying drugs or weapons that could place him in danger, and there is no female backup available, he can search.

The rest of your story sounds like a pile of garbage. If true, I wonder why the police officer even bothered with it - the paperwork alone would keep him busy for hours.

I guees we are not getting the full picture here.

Answer 10

If it is a matter of Officer safety, then a male officer can certainly pat down a female. If he had some reason to believe you might be armed, then he was perfectly right to pat you down.