Chapter 5 – Adult Custody and Security Operations

52050.16.4 Clothed Body Search of Female Inmates

• Body search procedures for clothed female inmates recognize, address, and minimize the effects of cross-gender contact inherent in the body search process by limiting this function to female correctional staff unless an emergency exists that threatens death, inmate escape, or great bodily injury to staff , inmates, or visitors.

• Custody post orders shall require random clothed body searches of inmates, or when reasonable suspicion is established. Random search should be no more frequent than necessary to control contraband or to recover missing or stolen property; however, the routine search of inmates entering or leaving certain specified areas is not precluded.

  • This is a basic search alerting staff to possession of weapons or other serious contraband.

  • A search shall be conducted with the inmate facing away from the staff member.

  • Staff shall search inmates from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet, including shoes, all pockets, seams, and personal effects.

• Clothed Body Searches of female inmates shall be conducted by female correctional staff only, except in emergency situations as follows:

  • When circumstances exist that require an immediate search of a female inmate in order to avoid the threat of death, escape, or great bodily injury to staff , inmates, or visitors, and only until sufficient numbers of female correctional staff are available to assume critical body search duties.

  • Clothed Body Searches performed by male correctional staff during the emergency circumstances described above shall sweep the inmate’s breast and genital area with the back of the hand for the purpose of discovering contraband directly related to the threat posed by the emergency. If cause exists for a more thorough search, the female inmate shall be detained until a female correctional staff member is available to conduct the search.

  • At any time a male correctional staff member conducts a pat-down search of a female inmate, the search shall be documented. This documentation shall be completed utilizing a Notice of Unusual Occurrence which shall be reviewed by the supervisor and routed to the institutional PREA Compliance Manager (PCM). The PCM shall retain the completed document, in accordance with the Records Retention Schedule, for audit purposes.

• Under no circumstances shall male correctional staff perform non-emergency clothed body searches of female inmates.