Legal Definitions - Strip Search

A strip search is when someone is inspected while they are naked. This is usually not allowed unless there is a good reason for it. The court will look at all the circumstances to decide if a strip search is necessary to find evidence that can't be found any other way. They will also look at how much of the person's body was searched, where the search happened, and how it was done.

A police officer arrests someone for stealing. The officer thinks the person might have hidden the stolen items in their clothes. The officer can't find the items by patting down the person's clothes, so they decide to do a strip search. This is not allowed unless the officer has a good reason to believe the items are hidden on the person's body.

Another example is if a person is arrested for drug possession. The police might do a strip search to see if the person is hiding drugs in their body. This is only allowed if the police have a good reason to believe the person is hiding drugs in this way.

These examples show that a strip search is only allowed if there is a good reason for it. The court will look at all the circumstances to decide if the search was necessary and if it was done in a way that respected the person's rights.