Nearly 200 consent to search forms issued by CPD so far

A Columbia deputy police chief said the new system of getting written consent from someone before searching their car or home has proven more difficult than expected.

Deputy Chief John Gordon spoke to the city’s police review board Wednesday night about the new policy. Officers must get someone’s signature proving they know they can deny a police search of their car, so long as the officer doesn’t have probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Supporters of the move hope it will reduce disparities in searches after traffic stops.

Gordon said the department has 181 signed consent forms on record as of August. That includes 64 from 2016 and 117 this year. Gordon said other signed consent forms have been placed into evidence, so the total number is higher.

Tracking just how many forms the department has issued has been one of many problems the department has encountered. Gordon and board member Cornelia Williams agreed that the forms themselves need to emphasize the person’s right to refuse a search. Right now, the disclaimer is at the bottom of the card.

Williams said that the card doesn’t detail the full interaction an officer might have. Gordon recounted an experience where he watched body-worn video camera footage of an officer getting written consent to search a car. The woman pulled over had a drug arrest a decade ago, Gordon said, and the officer wanted to search the car. After a discussion, Gordon said the woman reluctantly gave her permission – consent that Gordon considered was made under protest.

“I found that officer improper,” Gordon said. “I tried to reach out to the people that were in this car stop and say, ‘That’s wrong.’ We’ve sustained the complaint, we did remedial training, it was documented, if he does it again, he’ll face a harsher punishment. These are the things that you should expect from your police department.”

Board chairman Darryl Smith said he supported the form’s intent to inform people of their Fourth Amendment right. People are unaware of their constitutional protections, Smith said, and the forms serve as a good reminder that without probable cause or suspicion, police can’t search your property without permission. Smith questioned whether or not the written consent forms were a good use of time.

“The more time you spend filling out paperwork, the less time you do policing,” Smith said. “There’s a balancing act.

Gordon said the process was an attempt at re-training some officers when it comes to traffic stops. Things like the smell of drugs or the sight of a weapon can give an officer probable cause to search a car for evidence of a crime without the person’s consent. Gordon said gaining a person’s voluntary permission to search is seldom used, and officers have sometimes forgotten to use the cards.

Gordon and Assistant Chief Jeremiah Hunter have been reviewing each traffic stop in which an officer uses a consent to search form. He said this “audit” of the system will help them ensure the forms are accomplishing what they want, and are being used correctly.