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NEW ORLEANS — The use of strip searches by police in Louisiana’s capital city was reined in Friday by a federal judge who said the policy under which Baton Rouge officers perform such searches on people who haven’t been arrested is “unconstitutional on its face.”
U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick’s order came in litigation filed last year alleging police abuses — including severe beatings and invasive searches — of people detained at an obscure warehouse called the “Brave Cave.” The lawsuits led to an ongoing federal civil rights investigation.
The search policy in question allowed officers to perform strip searches on “non-arrestees based on individualized articulable reasonable suspicion” that they might be armed or carrying illegal material. Citing Supreme Court precedent, Dick said a higher standard — probable cause — is needed for a search involving more than a pat-down or frisk.
In her ruling, Dick acknowledged safety concerns expressed by police officials who defended the policy.
“In no way does the Court wish to reduce the tools available to police officers to achieve this safety,” she wrote. “However, these tools must be used and applied in a constitutional manner.”
City officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the first of the abuse complaints was filed last year, the city ordered the warehouse facility closed and the police department disbanded its street crimes unit. One police officer resigned and was arrested on a simple battery charge.
Last month, four officer s associated with the now-disbanded police unit were indicted by a Louisiana grand jury on charges alleging that they covered up the beating of a suspect in custody.
