Particular organizational and legal aspects of an external pat-down

Abstract

  The research subject is the set of laws regulating the grounds for and the procedure of an external pat-down by the police officers. The research object is social relations emerging during an external pat-down carried out by the police officers for the purpose of public order and safety protection. The article deals with the questions of public order protection by the police officers using an external pat-down. The author considers the problems of legal regulation of this type of search using comparative analysis, and defines the organizational aspects of an external pat-down. The author focuses on the legal grounds for the prevention of citizens’ counteraction to police officers performing an external pat-down. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the complex analysis of an external pat-down carried out by police officers for the purpose of personal safety protection. Based on the analysis of laws and law-enforcement practice, the author defines the tactics of police officers carrying out an external pat-down in situations beyond the scope of legal regulation. The author emphasizes the necessity to strictly observe civil and political rights during an external pat-down. In this context, the author draws attention to the peculiarities of carrying out an external pat-down by a police officer of the same gender as a searched person, and the legality of actions in case the objects, potentially dangerous for the police officers but not prohibited for civilian circulation, are found.