Sunday, March 06, 2005

How often do drivers refuse consent to search at traffic stops?

The law enforcement response to calls for banning "consent searches" inevitably includes some version of the argument, "Well, people can say 'no' if they want." So, since data is for the first time becoming available as a result of Texas' racial profiling law, in the real world how often do drivers actually refuse consent for police to search at traffic stops? The University of North Texas racial profiling study discussed earlier analysed not only the number of searches conducted by those departments, but how often consent was requested and refused.

The following table depicts consent searches requested, granted and refused for the five police departments participating in UNT's two-month study:

Consent searches requested, granted and refused for
Dallas-area police participating in UNT Racial Profilng Study


Requested

Granted

Refused

Cedar Hill P.D.

45

43

2

Dallas P.D.

53

53

0

Desoto P.D.

7

7

0

Duncanville P.D.

25

21

4

Lancaster P.D.

10

8

2





Total

140

132

8


So in 94% of instances where police requested searches without probable cause, drivers gave consent to have their vehicles searched. (The numbers are relatively low because the study only lasted two months and not all officers participated.) Most of those searched almost certainly didn't know they could refuse, or felt pressure not to, which is why the consent rate is so high. By contrast, in Austin, when drivers knew they could refuse consent because they had to sign a written form, the number of consent searches declined by 63% last year.

The study did not break out contraband hit rates specfically for consent searches.

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2 comments:

  1. Gritsforbreakfast3/08/2005 10:11:00 AM

    They really just let you go. They may THREATEN to make you wait, but the Supreme Court has said they can't delay you extra without probable cause. Usually it's a bluff. I've heard of it happening, but 98+% of the time, if you refuse they'll let you go.

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  2. Anonymous11/25/2008 11:53:00 AM

    They really don't just let you go. A common response to a consent refusal is to detain you for a dog. The Terry standard for detention is "reasonable suspicion", and the bar is quite low -- police will exaggerate your apparent nervousness if nothing else is fishy about you.

    Once the dog arrives, it's "if the dog barks he's a witch" and exigent probable cause has been manufactured with a barking prop.

    You can fight the detention in court ... but they will get in your car one way or the other. The police attitude seems to be that even if they lose you on a 4th amendment suppression, they still got to haul you to jail and confiscate your contraband.

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