Comments on: Albany Police Charged with Series of Abusive Cavity Searches

By: MacGruber

MacGruber — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:12:53 +0000

At random I opened a book at Elgin Illinois public library. It detailed the outrageous practices of the Chicago police department in the 1970′s to compel a strip search/cavity search just when tickets were issued. You guessed it; nearly all were women subjected to extreme humiliation, even over a busted tail light. Very disturbing.

By: puzzling

puzzling — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:06:44 +0000

As a follow up on this topic, the Ninth Circuit announced a ruling 8/22/08 against San Francisco for a strip search policy used in jails without sufficient suspicion from 2002 to 2004. From sfgate:

San Francisco violated the rights of thousands of jail inmates who were strip-searched without authorities having any reason to believe they were carrying weapons or contraband, a divided federal appeals court ruled Friday.

Under the policy, every inmate who was designated for transfer to another jail was subjected to a visual body cavity search.

Jail officials said they needed the strip searches to keep inmates from smuggling guns and drugs into the jails. But the appeals court, upholding a federal judge’s 2005 ruling, said the policy violated constitutional standards that allow such searches only for specific reasons – that the inmate is charged with a violent or drug-related crime, has committed those crimes in the past, or is reasonably suspected of concealing contraband.

Sheriff Michael Hennessey changed the jail’s policy in January 2004 to conform to those standards.

“Blanket strip searches of (newly arrested inmates) regardless of severity of charge and without reasonable suspicion is unconstitutional” under the court’s rulings dating to 1984, Judge Sidney Thomas said in Friday’s decision.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:44:05 +0000

DW, I couldn’t agree more. What scares me is how many other people think such abusive treatment by police and the criminal courts is “justified”…as long as it isn’t THEM on the receiving end of the rough treatment. In other words, innocent until proven guilty for THEM, guilty until proven innocent for everyone else. Which is why I don’t go out as much as I used to.

By: deeply worried

deeply worried — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:21:25 +0000

Susan,

One of the recurring themes in the topics on this board is the abuse of police powers.

Since 911 I believe that that community has felt “empowered” to take more aggressive and physical approaches to the execution of their jobs. It is a nationwide thing and represents a shift in an occupational culture.

In short, I think a social scientist might sift through the data and conclude that citizens are more at risk for being treated roughly by police officials now than say 8 years ago.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:41:40 +0000

DW, I don’t know how Albany L.E. can say their abusive practices are NOT racial profiling with a straight face. Has the occurrence of violent crime in Albany gone down so far that their police have to go LOOKING for new “criminals” to prosecute? This story, and others like it, would strongly suggest (to me anyway) that the Albany Sheriff’s Department and its related police agencies have too much time on their hands, and not enough warm bodies in their jails. Or, to borrow a quote from an excellent investigative journalist, “….and if they couldn’t find any ‘monsters,’ then they’d create some.”*

*From MEAN JUSTICE, by Edward Humes

By: deeply worried

deeply worried — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:04:12 +0000

“To Serve and Inspect”