The only time a body cavity search would be allowed is after arrest or, of course, with a warrant.
Yes. If you are merely being detained they can search you for WEAPONS to insure their own safety, but not look for evidence. It’s not like this is some sort of secret thing that only constitutional attorneys know. That is probably part of the training in just about every police department. But many cops get lazy Especially when they don’t get called on this. And that is even more prevalent when they’re dealing with poor people who can’t afford competent council.
Police have always ben a mixture of good and bad, and so long as most police turn a blind “blue wall” eye to this sort of behavior, it will continue. Keep in mind when reading these stories that the police in this country didn’t suddenly go bad on us. But until recently, the stories of bad cops didn’t really get much traction, especially if the victims were people of color.
I want to believe that what’s happening is the internet. To be clear, I think this sort of thing–and much worse–has been going on for a very long time. Speaking solely for myself I’m now thinking about what would have seemed unthinkable to me at at earlier time.
Not that it should have been unthinkable even before, but twenty or twenty five years ago when I heard these sorts of stories I was stupid enough and privileged enough to be able to assume it was just a few “bad apples”.
With all due respect and no snark intended, I think your white-male privilege is showing. The police and other authorities (including, ahem, plain old white men) have been “policing” black people and black women’s bodies in intrusive, sexualizing, criminalizing, possessive and otherwise-abusive ways for centuries. What’s new, of course, is that we have technology now that captures and publicizes some of it. Even if that’s not true in Charnesia Corley’s run-in with those whose salary she helps pay, the rise and distribution of recorded incidents makes cases like hers much more visible.
Clearly, this is nothing new- and, thank you, I’m fully aware of the history of oppression and abuse of marginalized groups by those in power.
My comment (and maybe I didn’t make this clear enough in my previous post) is meant to express disbelief that despite the increased visibility of this sort of abuse, it seems to continue unabated. That, to me (and regardless of my color or gender) is a troubling thing. These acts are more visible, which I’d have thought would at least do something to slow the rate of their occurrence. That’s clearly wishful thinking on my part.
It’s my wish too, but yeah, institutional change is slow as a sloth in syrup, so I think the rate of occurence is likely to stay the same for awhile. Or even go up, if police respond with vindictiveness to Black Lives Matter (interesting, for instance, that Sandra Bland was a very active activist in the movement).
These cops need a good slap from their mothers. (In addition to formal reprimands and some training or possibly being fired or whatever.)
What’s really blowing my mind is that female cops are doing this, on the side of the road, to other women. Is it just an indicator of the type of woman who gets into law enforcement? because I can’t really imagine what would compel me to do something like this even if it were legal, which, obviously, it is not.
You don’t need to be a a woman to understand that this isn’t ok. It’s definitely an indicator of the type of person who wants to become a cop, and/or an indicator of what happens to people when they do. That, and a system that tends to encourage that sort of behavior.
“To perform a cavity search — which Goerlitz noted have turned up crack pipes and drugs — deputies should arrest a suspect and take them to an HSCO substation. Headquarters downtown even boasts a microwave scanner that can perform the task without intrusion.”
Not sure that boast is the right word. This is all creepy as hell.
Know what’s good about BoingBoing? The folks who make comments are intelligent. Look up other sources for this story and you have the typical load of horse shit people siding with the cops.
