Ohio Woman Strip Searched by Police Left Naked for Hours in Cell

[my2sense]

After contacting police because she had been attacked by a family member. Things went terribly wrong.

Hope Steffey's night started with a call to police for help. It ended with her face down, naked, and sobbing on a jail cell floor. Now, the sheriff's deputies from Stark County, Ohio who allegedly used excessive force during a strip search 15 months ago face a federal lawsuit, and recently released video won’t help their case.

Steffey's ordeal with the Stark County sheriff's deputies began after her cousin called 9-1-1 claiming Steffey had been assaulted by another one of their cousins. When a Stark County police officer arrived, he asked to see Steffey's driver's license. But instead of handing over her own ID, she mistakenly turned over her dead sister's license, which she contends she keeps in her wallet as a memento. That's when the situation became complicated.

"Hope was not treated as a victim," her lawyer told WKYC News. "The officer said to her 'shut up about your dead sister.'"

Eventually, Steffey was arrested and taken to the Stark County Jail, charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. But once in custody, her attorney says seven jail workers, male and female, forcibly removed Steffey of all her clothes, including her undergarments, while she lay face down in handcuffs. Local news footage shows Steffey wailing, asking "What are you doing?!?"

"And you have to ask yourself, what was the purpose of the strip search?" said Steffey's lawyer. "What was the necessity of it? This was a disorderly conduct claim."

The lawsuit says that Steffey remained in the cell for six hours and wrapped herself in toilet paper to stay warm. During that time, she was not allowed to use a phone or seek medical assistance for injuries she accrued that night, including a cracked tooth, bulging disc, and bruises.

Although the sheriff's policy requires officers conducting any strip search to be of the same sex, the sheriff contends that the tactic used on Steffey was not actually a strip search. He also questions the validiy of the events leading up to Steffey’s arrest.

Once shown the exclusive video, Steffey’s husband was in disbelief. "You don't treat people like this," he said. "I don't think murderers are treated like this."

This video is from WKYC News, broadcast February 1, 2008


http://youtube.com/watch?v=rGsh9LL2tps

[malaise]

1. What frightened me was that both male and

female police literally tore off her clothes. It looked more like a gang sexual assault. Who pays these barbarians anyway?
Bush's methods are spreading. Any bet Scalia defends this.

[my2sense]

2. Here is another report of

the incident. This shyt is scary. It seems the goverment can do whatever it wants. The sheriffs office is claiming there was NO WRONG DOING.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=E0Oqa-oHoOo&feature=related

PLEASE KICK THIS THREAD!

:moving away from the keyboard...my head is about to explode:

[my2sense]

5. We The Tax Payers

financing this shyt.

[bdamomma]

12. they are treating everyone like criminals.

[orleans]

3. unfucking real. may it come back to them ten-fold. all of them that did that to this woman. ten-fold

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[my2sense]

4. This is equivilent to rape as far as I'm concerned

Just think of what has happened to other women/men in custody.

She called THEM for help and this is what happened!

[readmoreoften]

6. Stripped naked by MALE AND FEMALE COPS.

held for 6 hours naked. Bruises, chipped tooth.

all because she pulled out the drivers' license of her dead sister that she keeps as a memento before pulling out her own...

[canetoad]

7. There is something inherently wrong

with the latitude allowed in applying 'Disorderly Conduct' as a charge. Firstly it pre-supposes that the officer is balanced and impartial enough to recognise exactly what is disorderly conduct. This would automatically disqualify a large percentage of the police force as it can not be expected that they have a higher level of balance and impartiality than other citizens.

[trusty elf]

8. "sheriff contends... tactic used...not actually a strip search."

:wtf:

Oh, I get it, they weren't actually searching for anything, just having a bit of fun.

[my2sense]

9. Kick

[mmonk]

10. Stripping someone of their clothes

while being restrained and left without clothes is a psychological tactic dealing with control and isolation. It's not really a search.

[my2sense]

11. Sounds more like

psychological ABUSE. I don't understand how this can be justified with men in the room. One of the reports says the last two people in the cell alone with her were men - not that anything happened, but that's highly inappropriate.

[K Gardner]

13. I saw this horrific video last night and it made me literally sick to my stomach..

The video of this was followed by the video of the police dumping a quadriplegic out of his wheelchair, face first, onto the floor and then searching him. Am I alone in thinking that the police forces across the nation have gone beserk in the past months with all the tasering and brutality? Its been an isolated problem for some time, but seems to be getting more widespread. Guess that is to be expected in a country where its deemed, from the TOP, OK to torture.

[cloudythescribbler]

14. I had a similar experience (as a male) in 1982 at Westchester Cty Jail (in NY) ...

but I was left in a holding cell for more like 1/2 hr to 45 minutes.

The notion of "getting some" a phrase used by one avid participant at Abu Ghraib, is WIDESPREAD throughout the prison system, the mental health system, and (although in my experience less prone to OVERT physical assault) in the 'welfare system' (such as homeless shelters).

[mainer]

15. What REALLY happened in the deputy's cruiser?

What did that male deputy do to her while they were alone in the cruiser? He either PURPOSEFULLY turned off the camera -- or he removed the videotape. It doesn't exist. Something happened during the ride to the jail. Something he didn't want anyone to see.

[orleans]

16. welcome to gitmo ohio

where aggression and humiliation isn't just a way of life...IT'S THE LAW!

(i'm still outraged about this)

[leftofthedial]

17. I now believe in the death penalty again

[my2sense]

18. Amazing What "Officers" of the law get away with

they should ALL be fired including the Sheriff. Folks need to wake up and DEMAND change and accountability.

[Justitia]

19. When I saw this video, I came close to vomiting. That was a sexual assault.

To leave a woman, handcuffed and naked after having her clothes ripped off by SEVEN officers, including men is a DISGUSTING OUTRAGE. Those "officers" were rabid animals and every one of them should not only be fired but brought up on criminal charges.

:puke:

[WinkyDink]

20. Exactly. Criminal perverts in uniforms. And now they're on tape.

[warren pease]

21. And, shockingly, she's young and relatively attractive...

Just taking a lesson from the TSA, which has pioneered the use of the unnecessary strip search for attractive young women only; the rest are presumed to pose no threat to the state.

As somebody said above, I'm pretty close to revising my life-long opposition to the death penalty. There are far too many people around these days -- including at least a few dozen who live and/or work at the white house -- whose sense of entitlement and immunity demand that they be sitting on death row somewhere waiting for their final appeal for clemency to be turned down.

These rotten bastards need to get in the way of a freight train or a 747. I don't think reprimands and a two-week suspension with pay are going to do the trick.


wp

[Rosemary2205]

22. VERY effective - next woman that gets attacked in Stark Co won't bother the cops

that's the point right??