10-111 - Searching Dead Bodies

10-111 - Searching Dead Bodies

  • Summary: Rules and legal considerations for searching deceased individuals while preserving evidence and maintaining respect for the deceased.
  • Effective Date: 07-17-2001
  • See other versions

Policy

Officers shall prevent anyone other than investigators or personnel from the Medical Examiner's Office from searching dead bodies. A witness, preferably a family member, shall be requested to remain at the scene and shall be identified in the Offense/Incident Report. Any personal effects taken from the deceased by anyone shall be documented in the report. Death weapons or other property of the deceased, when taken for evidence, shall be itemized and signed for by the officers when so requested by the Medical Examiner.

 

Definitions

Refer to the Commonly Used Terms page for general definitions.

  • Investigators: All persons from the MPD Homicide unit and Internal Affairs unit who are conducting an investigation of the Critical Incident, unless other Criminal Investigating and Administrative Investigating Entities have been designated by the Chief of Police or their designee.

Document History:

Title Effective Date Revision Type Download
10-111 - Searching Dead Bodies 07-17-2001 download PDF

Revision Types and Descriptions

  • New: Policy had been added.
  • Combined: Two or more policies were merged.
  • Definitions Update: A glossary definition was updated.
  • Terms Update: A term, not necessarily tied to the glossary, was updated in the Manual.
  • Edited - Major: Significant content or procedural changes.
  • Edited - Minor: Small edits, clarifications, or formatting changes.
  • Renamed: Policy title changed.
  • Renumbered: Policy number was changed.
  • Split: Single policy was divided into multiple.
  • Eliminated: Policy was removed and is no longer in effect.
  • PRH Implementation: Edits for the Policy and Resource Hub; no content changes.