Post by Emcee Stove on Apr 22, 2012 18:57:40 GMT 6
www.kansas.com/2012/04/22/2301424/sedgwick-county-jail-policy-on.html
If you spend the night at the Sedgwick County Jail, you’ll be taking your clothes off in front of a deputy.
Strip searches, a practice upheld this month by the U.S. Supreme Court, are an everyday occurrence at the jail.
The jail’s policy allows strip searches for suspects who move from booking to housing.
“The main reason is concern for the safety and security of inmates and staff,” said Sheriff Robert Hinshaw.
Suspects held in the booking area who expect to pay a bond to get out do not undergo a strip search unless there is reasonable suspicion to believe the person is concealing a weapon or controlled substance.
Hinshaw said the 5-4 court ruling could be interpreted as blanket permission to conduct strip searches on anyone without probable cause, even people coming to jail on suspicion of non-violent offenses.
“However, Kansas law bars that under a series of state statutes,” he said.
Kansas law doesn’t allow a person detained or arrested on suspicion of traffic, regulatory or nonviolent misdemeanor offenses to be strip searched without probable cause.
People arrested on suspicion of driving while suspended or drunken driving, or writing a bad check, for example, would not be strip searched unless they moved from the booking area to a jail pod.
Hinshaw recalled that when he started at the Sheriff’s Office in 1979, “We strip searched everyone.”
New Jersey case
The Supreme Court decision centered on a New Jersey man arrested during a traffic stop. According to the decision, the state trooper who stopped him “checked a statewide computer database and found a bench warrant issued for petitioner’s arrest after he failed to appear at a hearing to enforce a fine.”
The man, Albert Florence, underwent strip searches at two jails. Records later proved he had paid the fine in question.
The decision says that “At the first jail, petitioner, like every incoming detainee, had to shower with a delousing agent and was checked for scars, marks, gang tattoos, and contraband as he disrobed. Petitioner claims that he also had to open his mouth, lift his tongue, hold out his arms, turn around, and lift his genitals.
“At the second jail, petitioner, like other arriving detainees, had to remove his clothing while an officer looked for body markings, wounds, and contraband; had an officer look at his ears, nose, mouth, hair, scalp, fingers, hands, armpits, and other body openings; had a mandatory shower; and had his clothes examined. Petitioner claims that he was also required to lift his genitals, turn around, and cough while squatting.”
Florence alleged his constitutional rights were violated.
The Supreme Court didn’t agree.
Hinshaw said from what he knows of the case, Florence would not have been strip searched at the downtown Wichita jail unless an X-ray or pat-down had triggered suspicion.
‘A rational policy’
Regardless of the crime, anyone who moves from booking to a jail cell is strip searched.
Strip searches are done by a deputy of the same sex. Inmates are required to remove all their clothing under the Sheriff’s Office’s policy, including underwear. Deputies do not touch the inmates.
But deputies might ask men to “lift their genitals and bend over to spread their buttocks for visual inspection.” And women “may be required to position themselves in such a manner as to allow visual inspection of the vaginal and anal cavities and breast area.”
Body cavity searches are rare, Hinshaw said, and require a warrant. Those searches are required to be done by a medical professional under state law.
Wichita lawyer Kurt Kerns said he had concerns in the past about clients accused of minor offenses being strip searched. That seemed excessive, he said.
But he said he understands the need for strip searches.
“As long as they are complying with their own written policies and federal and state law, I’m sure it’s a rational policy,” he said.
“I think it’s about common sense.”
Reach Deb Gruver at 316-268-6400 or dgruver@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more here: www.kansas.com/2012/04/22/2301424/sedgwick-county-jail-policy-on.html#storylink=cpy
If you spend the night at the Sedgwick County Jail, you’ll be taking your clothes off in front of a deputy.
Strip searches, a practice upheld this month by the U.S. Supreme Court, are an everyday occurrence at the jail.
The jail’s policy allows strip searches for suspects who move from booking to housing.
“The main reason is concern for the safety and security of inmates and staff,” said Sheriff Robert Hinshaw.
Suspects held in the booking area who expect to pay a bond to get out do not undergo a strip search unless there is reasonable suspicion to believe the person is concealing a weapon or controlled substance.
Hinshaw said the 5-4 court ruling could be interpreted as blanket permission to conduct strip searches on anyone without probable cause, even people coming to jail on suspicion of non-violent offenses.
“However, Kansas law bars that under a series of state statutes,” he said.
Kansas law doesn’t allow a person detained or arrested on suspicion of traffic, regulatory or nonviolent misdemeanor offenses to be strip searched without probable cause.
People arrested on suspicion of driving while suspended or drunken driving, or writing a bad check, for example, would not be strip searched unless they moved from the booking area to a jail pod.
Hinshaw recalled that when he started at the Sheriff’s Office in 1979, “We strip searched everyone.”
New Jersey case
The Supreme Court decision centered on a New Jersey man arrested during a traffic stop. According to the decision, the state trooper who stopped him “checked a statewide computer database and found a bench warrant issued for petitioner’s arrest after he failed to appear at a hearing to enforce a fine.”
The man, Albert Florence, underwent strip searches at two jails. Records later proved he had paid the fine in question.
The decision says that “At the first jail, petitioner, like every incoming detainee, had to shower with a delousing agent and was checked for scars, marks, gang tattoos, and contraband as he disrobed. Petitioner claims that he also had to open his mouth, lift his tongue, hold out his arms, turn around, and lift his genitals.
“At the second jail, petitioner, like other arriving detainees, had to remove his clothing while an officer looked for body markings, wounds, and contraband; had an officer look at his ears, nose, mouth, hair, scalp, fingers, hands, armpits, and other body openings; had a mandatory shower; and had his clothes examined. Petitioner claims that he was also required to lift his genitals, turn around, and cough while squatting.”
Florence alleged his constitutional rights were violated.
The Supreme Court didn’t agree.
Hinshaw said from what he knows of the case, Florence would not have been strip searched at the downtown Wichita jail unless an X-ray or pat-down had triggered suspicion.
‘A rational policy’
Regardless of the crime, anyone who moves from booking to a jail cell is strip searched.
Strip searches are done by a deputy of the same sex. Inmates are required to remove all their clothing under the Sheriff’s Office’s policy, including underwear. Deputies do not touch the inmates.
But deputies might ask men to “lift their genitals and bend over to spread their buttocks for visual inspection.” And women “may be required to position themselves in such a manner as to allow visual inspection of the vaginal and anal cavities and breast area.”
Body cavity searches are rare, Hinshaw said, and require a warrant. Those searches are required to be done by a medical professional under state law.
Wichita lawyer Kurt Kerns said he had concerns in the past about clients accused of minor offenses being strip searched. That seemed excessive, he said.
But he said he understands the need for strip searches.
“As long as they are complying with their own written policies and federal and state law, I’m sure it’s a rational policy,” he said.
“I think it’s about common sense.”
Reach Deb Gruver at 316-268-6400 or dgruver@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more here: www.kansas.com/2012/04/22/2301424/sedgwick-county-jail-policy-on.html#storylink=cpy