Opinion ID: 1871258
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Assistance Making Arrest

Text: When probable cause materialized, Reilly was the only officer at the scene with primary jurisdiction. Although the occupants were handcuffed, he had to drive all four of them to the Boone County jail for further processing, search them incident to arrest, and search the car. The occupants outnumbered Reilly, and he could not accomplish all four arrests by himself. Recognizing this, he called his dispatcher to request help. Nance County deputies Radford and Swanson responded to the call. Each of the four officers drove one of the occupants. Swanson drove Voichahoske to the station. Then Radford and Maple, a Boone County deputy, searched Voichahoske, while Reilly and Horn searched the car. To require Reilly to drive each occupant to the station while the Nance County deputies detained the others would be senseless. Although Reilly could have refused assistance from the Nance County deputies and waited for Boone County deputies to arrive, this could pose an unreasonable delay. Moreover, because he requested assistance from Boone County officers but was told that Nance County officers were responding, Reilly could reasonably believe that the Boone County officers could not respond in time. A reasonable person could believe that help was needed to carry out the arrests. Because Voichahoske might conceal or destroy evidence, and because Reilly needed assistance in making the arrest, we determine that Reilly was in need of assistance within the meaning of § 29-215(2)(c). Although Voichahoske argues that Reilly did not explicitly ask for assistance in searching Voichahoske, as before, we do not read the statute as requiring such specificity. Under § 29-215(2)(c), officers responding to requests for assistance outside their jurisdiction have the same authority as they would in their primary jurisdiction. Compare § 29-215(1) and (2). It is undisputed that Reilly requested assistance and that Radford responded to that call. Thus, Radford has the same authority in Boone County as he would in Nance County. Because he could have searched Voichahoske incident to arrest in Nance County, it follows that he could also search him incident to arrest in Boone County. Therefore, Radford had authority to administer the strip search under § 29-215. Voichahoske, however, argues that Maple, as a Boone County deputy, could have conducted the search instead of Radford. The record reflects that both Maple and Radford were in the booking room with Voichahoske during the search, but that Radford told Voichahoske to disrobe. Although Maple could have conducted the search, he had not been at the scene and did not have the details of the stop and arrest. While ideally, Reilly should have conducted the search incident to arrest, it was permissible for Radford to conduct the search under these circumstances.