Officer Safety and Survival  Teleclass
 Supplemental Material

Proper Pat Down Procedures

Apply pressure to wrist while the other hand searches.  Make sure and search by using crush method on clothing and feel with hand instead of doing a pat down search.  Maintain good gun control and search the entire body.  Upon finding a weapon, identify, remove, and continue to search.  When executing a search on a female by a male officer, always attempt to locate a female officer to search a female first.  If no female officer is available, then a search will be done but only after another officer is present to witness that search.  When searching the breast area, the knife edge part of the hand will be used to search the outer perimeters of the breasts.  When searching under breasts, use thumb side of hand so it won’t appear that you are grabbing breasts.  The back of the hand will also pass over the breast itself.  The entire support of the bra must be checked.  The bra may also be pulled away from the breasts so that any weapons present will drop to the waistband.  When searching the genital area, the back of the hand will be used to assure that a weapon has not been concealed.  Always warn the person prior to searching the breast or genital area.  If a female is wearing a dress, place feet close together and pull dress back, turning it into a pair of pants.

Kneeling Position

This position is designed for high-risk subjects.  We would first get target acquisition from behind cover on the subject and tell him/her to raise hands, palms toward the officer.  From here the suspect would be ordered to face the opposite direction and slowly get down on his/her knees.  Hands will be placed behind the back, palms up, arms away from body.  Have the suspect to cross one ankle over the other one and sit on ankles.  The suspect will then lean forward at waist, look up and be told not to move.  The suspect will also be told that any quick physical movements will be considered resistance.  The officer will approach only after cover officer arrives.  Approach will be made from level II 1/2 and handcuffing procedure will be the same as speed-cuffing procedure.

Prone Position

Just like kneeling, prone is designed for a high-risk suspect.

Target acquisition is obtained from behind cover and the suspect is told to get hands up, palms forward with fingers spread.  The suspect is also told to face the opposite direction slowly getting down on knees and then all the way down on stomach.  Place the suspect's hands directly out to sides, palms up and spread legs apart with toes pointed out.  If the officer is right-handed, approach suspect's right side, having suspect to turn head in opposite direction.  For left-handed officers, procedure is the opposite.  The suspect is told not to move, as movement will be considered resistance.

The officer will approach from level II only after cover officer has arrived.  Upon approaching, the suspect will be told to raise arms, and hands off the ground.  The officer will cuff the first hand on the little finger side and the subject's arm is brought to level I.  The officer's strong knee will be placed across back.  The subject's arm is placed between the officer's legs with the subject's fingers pointed toward his/her own head.  The subject is told to place other hand behind back. (Remember to check suspect for weapons).  Officer will then handcuff second hand on thumb side.  The officer will assist suspect in getting up.

When ordering a subject to get down on stomach, subject should be told to leave right hand up and place left hand on ground beside him/her and let himself/herself down slowly.  This forces him/her to use left hand for support.

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