A federal judge reined in Baton Rouge, La.'s use of police strip searches by police, saying that performing such searches on people who haven’t been arrested is “unconstitutional on its face.” U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick’s order came in suits 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 allowed officers to perform strip searches on “non-arrestees based on individualized articulable reasonable suspicion” that they might be armed or carrying illegal material, reports the Associated Press.
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 no way does the Court wish to reduce the tools available to police officers to achieve this safety,” Dick wrote. “However, these tools must be used and applied in a constitutional manner.” 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 officers associated with the now-disbanded unit were indicted on charges alleging that they covered up the beating of a suspect in custody.