AIRPORT SEARCHES

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AIRPORT SEARCHES

• Bryan R. Lemons
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
• [phone]
• blemons_at_fletc.treas.gov

2
United States v. Albarado495 F.2d 799 (2d. Cir.
1974)
Depriving a hijacker of his weapon is critical,
because by means of a weapon like a pistol or
even a knife the hijacker may literally turn the
plane itself into a weapon, threatening not only
those within it, but those on the ground as well.
In short, the plane may become a weapon of mass
destruction that no ordinary person would have
any way of obtaining except through a hijacking.
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JUSTIFYING AIRPORT SEARCHES

• Administrative Searches
• Terry Searches
• - Terry frisks
• Consent Searches

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ADMINISTRATIVE SEARCHES

• Requirements. The search must be
• - In furtherance of an administrative purpose
  (to deter potential hijackers)
• - And not to discover contraband or evidence
  unrelated to that purpose.
• Screening searches of airline passengers are
  conducted as part of a general regulatory scheme
  in furtherance of an administrative purpose .
  United States v. Davis, 482 F.2d 893 (9th Cir.
  1973)

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TERRY SEARCHES

• Requirements Reasonable suspicion suspect is
  presently armed and dangerous.
• Tragic experience has taught us more than once
  that such deterrence must begin before the
  hijacker is about to step onto the plane.
  United States v. Moreno, 475 F.2d 44 (5th Cir.
  1973)

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TERRY SEARCHES

• Boarding Gate Search is allowed on mere or
  unsupported suspicion.
• General Airport Area Reasonable suspicion is
  required.
• We note a sharp distinction between a search
  conducted at an airport boarding gate and the
  search of certain persons in the general airport
  area. United States v. Wehrli, 637 F.2d 408
  (5th Cir. 1981).

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CONSENT SEARCHES

• Requirements. Consent must be
• - Voluntary
• - Actual or Apparent Authority
• It is well-settled that one of the specifically
  established exceptions to the requirements of
  both a warrant and probable cause is a search
  that is conducted pursuant to consent.
  Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973)

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CONSENT SEARCHES

• Generally Passenger must be given the
  opportunity to avoid the search by refusing to
  fly.
• However once bags are submitted for
  examination, the right to refuse consent ends.
• To avoid a search, a passenger must elect not
  to fly before placing his bag on the x-ray belt.
  Torbet v. United Airlines, 298 F.3d 1087 (9th
  Cir. 2002)