NYPD Pushes for Consent Forms Before Searching Homes and Cars
Newsday reported last week on NYPD wanting suspects to sign consent forms before searching homes and cars, which would enable the police force to forego a warrant and would give them a little more legal protection. With consent searches frequently challenged at trials, NYPD is looking for a way to shore up the legalities of searches. The FBI currently uses this system, along with several other police departments in New York state, including Suffolk County.
Robert Thetford, a retired FBI agent who works closely with state troopers on constitutional law issues, says a signed consent form is typically the difference between a jury believing an officer or believing a suspect.
“The bottom line is juries believe what they see in writing,” he said.
But is this really an important measure? Or just more red tape being created by the NYPD? Simple Justice, a New York criminal defense blog had this to say about the proposed consent forms:
But before anybody gets too excited, and aside from the extremely cursory information in the Newsday article, this appears to be nothing more than another police procedure, or “best practices” type of rule, that is of absolutely no legal force and effect. In other words, while the police brass may want their cops to do it, that doesn’t mean that failure to obtain consent in writing undermines the claim of consent in the courtroom.
Will bringing consent forms into the equation help or hinder the process? Or is it just a quick fix to a problem that needs to be dealt with on a larger scale? When it comes to legalities, quick fixes are rarely the answer.
