• Inventory Searches
• Good Faith Searches and Police Department Policy

When an individual is lawfully arrested and brought to a police station for booking, the police may conduct an inventory search of that individual’s belongings as part of the booking process even though the person is ultimately released without being booked, and even though his belongings are not searched until some hours after his arrest.  The only issue in such a case is whether the officer acted in good faith and in substantial compliance with police department policy.

Two Anchorage, Alaska, police officers, responding to a call at around 2:30 a.m. about gunshots being fired at an apartment, encountered defendant Markanthony Sapalasan and another individual walking away from the apartment.  Defendant was observed to be carrying a backpack.  He also had a semiautomatic pistol visibly sticking out of his front pants pocket.  Defendant was therefore detained and searched.  The pistol was determined to be loaded, with one round in the chamber and one round missing from the magazine.  Arrested and handcuffed, defendant’s backpack was retrieved.  One of the officers—Officer Tae Yoon—requested and received defendant’s permission to search it.  Nothing of any significance was found in the backpack, ....