What would happen if criminals and perverts became police officers?

They already have, Ken. They already have.

Apparently the cargo shorts I was wearing for a recent flight were an issue. At the major international I took off from, they put me through the scanner (luckily I hadn't had any X-rays this year so I was like, haha you have to look at my fat butt naked! and didn't worry about the radiation dose), and then coming back from the small regional airport, they had to pat down just my cargo pockets, because I might have something, like my boarding pass and driver's license (which the scanner can't see through, so all terrorists will just use paper to foil the scanners). Oh the theater!

Strip-searching someone on the side of the road--twice, in full view of traffic--is SO obviously illegal and inappropriate that I'm suspicious of the story. The cops would have to be sadists or complete idiots with god complexes. (Insert your "AND?" joke here, but I believe these types of people are rare.)

It reads like BDSM fiction. (In /fact/, the account is extremely similar to one of the events in '50 Shades of Gray.')

Tarantino is no stranger to the Florida police. She appears to have had numerous DUI-related arrests, either actual DUIs or driving while her license was suspended for said DUIs. I'm NOT saying this means she deserved the treatment she alleges, but it does make it more likely there were other factors at play--i.e., she MAY have made up a story in retaliation for getting caught again.

I'm not saying I'm SURE it didn't happen or that if it did, I'm SURE there's a perfectly good explanation. If these cops did this, I hope they lose their badges and go to jail, and that Tarantino gets a lot of money. But there's definitely more to this story.

>>The cops would have to be sadists or complete idiots with god complexes.

And half of them are. So, where have you been living, under a rock?

If true, how would this be different from the Egyptian virginity tests?

Assholio, where did you get that statistic? Your ass? Bad cops get more press than good ones.

I'm not going to throw myself onto a cop-bashing bandwagon over a story told by someone with such a dodgy track record. If they did it, I hope they pay. We'll see.

I'm with you, Insufficient Poison.

>>Assholio, where did you get that statistic? Your ass? Bad cops get more press than good ones.

Naturally! And experience. And while my sample size is relatively small, it is amazingly consistent over time and distance. Of course if I ever meet a good cop I'll let you know. I have a half nephew who's a cop and I'm sure he's a prick. Goes with the job. I look at a cop and I do not see someone who is here "to protect and serve." I see someone who is out to bust me for whatever reason the state sees fit, willing to brutalize me or violate my rights in the process. I was probably generous with saying only 1/2 "sadists or complete idiots with god complexes."

I have strip searched many many people. Trust Me When I Tell You, it is not the highlight of a law enforcement career.

My dad was a cop. He was a good man, and I'm pretty sure he was a good cop too. A lot of people I knew thought he was a prick. They were the mainly the brothers and boyfriends of the girls I grew up with, and they were all sleazy little criminals who he busted frequently. I ran with "the wrong crowd" for protective coloration. Preacher's kids and cop's kids tend to do that, I hear.

People, people, people. The memo. READ THE MEMO.

Cops are heroes.

9/11.

Some years ago I worked for a while in health services at a big city jail, mostly in the booking department. Acts by jail guards and cops as despicable as Leila Tarantino accuses those Florida cops of were not uncommon in that jail during the five or six shifts a week that I worked there. There were plenty of female guards working at the jail - about one out of three guards and one out of 12 inmates were female - but many (not all) of the male guards often participated in or observed strip searches of attractive female prisoners. Many of those "searches" were nothing more or less than sexual assaults, sometimes fairly violent.

There was nothing anyone could do about it. Guards who took part in such activity denied it of course. Guards and staff who didn't take part lied and covered up for those who did. Any physical evidence was always "lost" or "never existed". Staff members who reported incidents were accused of lying, having a grudge, being disgruntled, and soon resigned because it became a very unpleasant and unsafe place for them to work - which I found out after I wrote up seven of 51 over-the-line incidents I kept dates, times, names and details of over a six month period. (I learned that the function of Internal Affairs is to exonerate the department) Prisoners' who complained were written off as liars.

Another side of the problem is that false accusations of sexual assaults made by female inmates are also very common.

As far as these charges by Leila Tarantino of Beverly Hills, Florida, I wouldn't rush to judgment one way or the other. Her accusations are pretty outrageous: strip searched twice, in broad daylight, on the side of the road, in plain view of passing traffic. If you google her name you'll find that she has a criminal history that includes more than DUI's and traffic offenses, and there are even a few different mugshots of her. She is probably a frequent flyer at the jail and well known by the cops.

Another side of the problem is that false accusations of sexual assaults made by female inmates are also very common. -- Ken R at August 10, 2012 8:08 PM

In this day and age -- pretty much 99% of all cop cars are stacked with the working video cameras. The victim in this case may be a frequent flier -- but if she isn't searched on camera -- I would be asking if the prior and subsequent searches by both officers were recorded? "Why didn't the camera work?" or "Why wasn't her search recorded?" would be my pertinent questions as a juror.

The check on this stuff is to look at surrounding evidence. If the government can't provide it -- look at it with suspicion.