Stark County (Columbus, Canton, Washington: crime, lawyers, houses)

[hamjeepr]

What is going on with the Stark County Sheriffs Dept? Are they all criminals hiding behind a badge or just a select few?


YouTube - Police State: Strip search of woman by Sheriff's Deputies

[mkeller234]

I am a resident of Stark County. I want to watch the video that you posted, I just want to make sure that the content is clean. I am only asking since it says "strip search"

[htlong]

yeah and officer Cutts is innocent of murder,cops get a false sense of being above the law...no way should males be in the cell while a strip seach of a female is going on period....sue the bastards!

[hamjeepr]

Originally Posted by mkeller234

I am a resident of Stark County. I want to watch the video that you posted, I just want to make sure that the content is clean. I am only asking since it says "strip search"

It came from the local newscast. It is clean (at least from a pornographic/language standpoint).

[Traveler87]

Its a shame that this happens. Unfortunately this is not a localized incident. Being in Florida this past summer, West Palm Beach had a similar case going on during June of last year.

[mkeller234]

Thanks for the response. That was terrible to watch. I cannot believe that she actually had to sit there for hours in nothing but toilet paper. The strip search was inhumane, and the horrible treatment after words just seems like pouring salt in her wounds. Very very embarrassing.

[John55]

Originally Posted by Traveler87

Its a shame that this happens. Unfortunately this is not a localized incident.

Its a shame?? Its an OUTRAGE!! And your right its not an isolated incident.

As outraged as I was about this incident, I was even more appalled when I started searching the internet and found case after case of the same type of abuses, and I found out that the Bill of Rights & 4th Amendment are no protection at all apparently from attacks like this by police.
Police need a warrant to search your house, but it seems the “law” doesn’t apply to the person themselves. And the interpretation and application the “strip search” varies wildly from city to city, county to county and state to state.
Most of the time, it is said only to be allowed if the officer suspects you to have a weapon or drugs. But in practice this isn’t always the case. And in instances of abuse, it’s almost never the case.
Basically it comes down to this, the police can FORCE a strip search on you at any time or place. Even in a public place in view of bystanders or your neighbors. Let alone at the station with a trumped up disorderly conduct charge or something similar.
Your only recourse is to report the incident or take it to court in a lawsuit. The internal investigations are notorious for siding with their officers, even when wrong. Although it seems quoting that it is within ‘standards’ is supposed to excuse the police. I suppose to do otherwise would be to invite a lawsuit. And once a victim has gone through the process, what good is the police coming back and admitting they were wrong, or winning a lawsuit, the damage is already done. Innocent people are scarred for life.
And there have been many lawsuits for these actions, the surprising thing is nothing has been done to cure the problem and restore protections of the 4th amendment.
I believe if police need a warrant for a residence, then they absolutely should need a warrant to strip search a person.
Police have abused this power for too long, taxpayers have paid lawsuits for this outrageous behavior for too long and we need a federal law to stop the practice.



WRITE YOUR FEDERAL REPS- This needs to be fixed!!!

[John55]

I have used part of that last post to send a letter to all my Reps in Washington and other involved parties.
Feel free to use or edit any or all of this letter to send to YOUR Reps, especially your FEDERAL Congressmen and Senators
We NEED a FEDERAL law to protect citizens.
==================================================

I recently ran across the story of Hope Steffy. A crime victim, who called 911, only to be arrested herself and then taken to jail. There she was videoed, while being forcibly stripped naked by several officers, both male & female and left in a cell for 6 hours naked. Then when she was later booked she was only allowed to wear a weighted vest.

As outraged as I was about this incident, I was even more appalled when I started searching the internet and found case after case of the same type of abuses, and I found out that the Bill of Rights & 4th Amendment are no protection at all apparently from attacks like this by police.

Police need a warrant to search your house, but it seems the “law” doesn’t apply to the person themselves. And the interpretation and application the “strip search” varies wildly from city to city, county to county and state to state.
Most of the time, it is said only to be allowed if the officer suspects you to have a weapon or drugs. But in practice this isn’t always the case. And in instances of abuse, it’s almost never the case.

Basically it comes down to this, the police can FORCE a strip search on you at any time or place. Even in a public place in view of bystanders or your neighbors. Let alone at the station with a trumped up disorderly conduct charge or something similar.

Your only recourse is to report the incident or take it to court in a lawsuit. The internal investigations are notorious for siding with their officers, even when wrong. Although it seems quoting that it is within ‘standards’ is supposed to excuse the police. I suppose to do otherwise would be to invite a lawsuit. And once a victim has gone through the process, what good is the police coming back and admitting they were wrong, or winning a lawsuit, the damage is already done. Innocent people are scarred for life.

And there have been many lawsuits for these actions, the surprising thing is nothing has been done to cure the problem and restore protections of the 4th amendment.
I believe if police need a warrant for a residence, then they absolutely should need a warrant to strip search a person.

As for the Stark County 'protocols', in Steffy’s case, the POLICE are not supposed to be able to 'punish' you for a 'crime' they THINK you might commit!!!
And with this suicide 'watch' that’s exactly what they are doing!

The excuse that it is for a persons own good is BS. And not part of their function.

If they REALLY think someone is suicidal, then they need to be transferred to a medical facility that is equipped to give a REAL diagnosis and handle patients like that. Plus they would have all the medication & equipment for people that may REALLY be suicidal.

NOT STRIPPED NAKED AT THE JAIL!!

To NOT get them to a mental health facility is as much denying them medical help, as if they were hurt & bleeding and they didn't take them to a hospital!!

This whole thing needs to be changed or taxpayers will be paying lawsuit after lawsuit. It’s OUTRAGEOUS!

And some police would have you believe that a strip search is needed to search for ‘weapons or drugs’. With a pat down and all the metal detectors & wands we have, I don’t see the weapons search excuse as valid either.
Most court houses have detectors at the entrance to scan for weapons, either they are effective and stop the weapons, or they aren’t effective and they are a waste of money. You can’t have it both ways.
And if we are depending on winning the “War on Drugs”, by pulling down the underpants of women & children, then we are in big trouble.

Police have abused this power for too long, taxpayers have paid lawsuits for this outrageous behavior for too long and we need a federal law to stop the practice.

Stark County Prosecutor
John D. Ferrero
Stark County Office Building
Stark County Prosecutor's Office
110 Central Plaza South, Suite 510
Canton, Ohio 44702-1413

State of Ohio
Office of the Attorney General
Marc Dann
30 E. Broad St.
Columbus, Oh 43215

Attorney General of the United States
Michael B. Mukasey
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001


Stark County Sheriff's Office
4500 Atlantic BLVD NE
Canton, Ohio 44705-4374

[John55]

This link shows that Deputy Richard T. Gurlea Jr was NOT recommended to be hired. But the sheriff hired him anyway.

Also the sheriff accuses the news of just showing parts of the video, to get sympathy for Hope Steffy, when the news denies this, he THEN admits that he doesn't know what video they have.

So the news asks for ALL video & audio that the sheriff's dept has.

Video on Demand | wkyc.com (broken link)

As of 04-14-2008 the sheriff’s dept has still NOT turned over all the video to Steffy’s lawyers or to the news.
One can only suspect that if this video was this bad the rest would certainly put them in jail for a long time.

The building video CLEARLY shows her being taped, while what looks to be the whole night shift, (4 men & 4 women) parade her down the hall. I guess the Sheriff’s web page that calls this a ‘unpleasant’ duty for his officers, doesn’t realize they have made a spectator sport out of it.

YouTube - Strip Search 2: The Video Sheriff doesn't want you to see

Also for anyone wondering, I have personally seen Hope Steffy’s arrest record. Besides this incident, she had NO record, not even a speeding ticket.

Link to Steffy’s lawsuit:
http://pamelahennessy.com/steffey.pdf (broken link)

CUT&PASTE:
21. Gurlea drove to the Sheriff’s office with Hope in the back seat of his cruiser. On arrival at the Sheriff’s office, Gurlea left Hope in his cruiser for about 5 minutes and spoke with another deputy. It is unknown what was said by Gurlea to the other deputy. Gurlea then returned and told Hope to do exactly what the Sheriff’s staff said she should do and that she would then probably be going home that evening.

I smell a setup, this gets to stinking more & more.

[carolh]

please tell me where it sys that Deputy gurlea was not recommended for stark county