LAPD Tightens Policy on Consensual Searches

The L.A. Police Commission has unanimously approved a new policy under which officers who obtain your consent to a search must now prove up that consent by capturing you on camera or getting your signature on a form. It’s no longer enough to simply say that you consented verbally or through your behavior.

The policy also says a best practice is for officers to make the following things clear during the encounter: why they are searching your property; what they’re searching for; where they’re searching for it; what they end up finding, if anything; and where they found it. And they should record themselves doing so, whenever possible.

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