Search and Seizure in Florida Schools: The Effect of Police Involvement

In 1985, the Supreme Court ruled that school officials can search students if they have a good reason to believe the student broke the rules. The search has to be reasonable based on the situation. Police can also be involved in school searches if needed for safety reasons. In the T.L.O. case, a high school student was caught smoking in the bathroom and the assistant principal searched her purse. The Supreme Court said that school officials can search students as long as it’s reasonable and they’re not acting like police. But it’s not clear if police can be involved in a school search. Before T.L.O. in 1985, other states had already settled the issue of school officials requesting police assistance to conduct a search. In Illinois and California, courts upheld the use of police to assist in searches conducted by school officials. These courts determined that the police were acting on the request of the school officials and not conducting their own investigation. In Florida, the law at the time prohibited searches at the direction of law enforcement officers. However, in 1997, the Second District Court of Appeal ruled on a school search case involving a school official requesting a law enforcement officer to conduct a search. In J.A.R. v. State, the court ruled that a teacher can involve a police officer to search a student suspected of carrying a weapon at school. The court said it’s important for schools to protect students from potential harm, so the reasonableness of the search is very important. In a similar case, T.J. v. State, the court also said that student safety is a big deal when deciding if a search is reasonable. School officials are not trained or equipped to handle armed encounters, and they shouldn’t be expected to. When it comes to searching students, it should be based on whether the search is reasonable given the circumstances. This means there should be a good reason to suspect that the search will find evidence of a student breaking the law or school rules. In a similar case, the court said that judges can’t ignore the fact that there is violence and threats of violence in schools. They also said that teachers and administrators should be able to rely on law enforcement for help without worrying too much about breaking the Fourth Amendment. In Florida, school officials can ask law enforcement for help in conducting searches if they have good reason to do so. This is because violence and weapons are a big concern in schools today. Florida courts have made it clear that it’s okay for law enforcement to be involved in school searches when needed. This is a common-sense approach to keeping schools safe.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/search-and-seizure-in-florida-schools-the-effect-of-police-involvement/