Federal Suit Over Illegal Strip Search by Wisonsin Police
By of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – June 28, 2015
A woman is claiming her rights were violated by a male Mequon police officer who she says instructed her to remove her clothing so he could photograph her tattoos while she was being booked in 2011.
Lauren Howie Laur’s lawsuit states that one Mequon police officer broke Wisconsin’s strip search law by photographing her partially naked and another hit on her before she was released from custody, embracing her and telling her he wished they had met under other circumstances.
The case is set to go to trial in federal court on Monday before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa.
The lawsuit, filed last year, says no effort was made to have a female officer photograph Laur’s tattoos, as required by law. It also says other identifying marks, such as scars on Laur’s face and feet, were not photographed, yet her tattoos “one under her breasts and one in her pubic area — made it into the police report.”
“There is simply no legitimate legal, constitutional basis, rationale or reason why tattoos in two bodily areas that could not even be observed if plaintiff was wearing a bikini, were photographed,” the complaint said.
The photographs were taken by Officer Michael Kranz. Officer Tyler Gaidish, who pulled over Laur early on Feb. 25, 2011, also was named in the lawsuit. The lawsuit says that Gaidish made romantic advances at the plaintiff. Gaidish committed suicide in 2012.
Gaidish’s estate has been dismissed from the case, but the claim against the City of Mequon remains and will be central to the trial.
An attorney for the City of Mequon declined to comment, and an attorney for the plaintiff, Laur, did not return a call for comment.
Mequon Police Chief Steve Graff said that Kranz remains a police officer with the department but declined to discuss if an internal investigation was conducted into the incident. He said he was not allowed to discuss the matter because of the pending litigation. Graff is expected to testify in the trial.
The Mequon case comes as dozens of strip search lawsuits continue to wind their way through federal court against the City of Milwaukee. Those cases involve police officers accused of performing illegal strip-searches.
More than 60 people have filed civil rights suits against the city and Milwaukee Police Department involving improper strip and cavity searches — purportedly for drugs — in police stations and on the street during a five-year period beginning in 2008.
According to the lawsuit from Mequon, Laur was stopped by Gaidish shortly after 1 a.m., and arrested for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
At the time, Laur was 21 and had never been in police custody, the complaint says.
During her booking, Laur mentioned to Gaidish and Kranz, the officer who would photograph her tattoos, that she worked at Tulip Restaurant in Milwaukee.
Kranz fingerprinted and photographed Laur and then asked her if he could photograph her tattoos, the complaint says. The incident was captured on video, which was obtained by Laur’s attorney, it says.
Laur’s mother, Mary Kay Howie, came to get her daughter from the Police Department. As they were leaving, Gaidish kept touching Laur’s right shoulder and upper arm. He shook her hand using both of his hands and then embraced her, saying, “I am sorry we had to meet under these circumstances,” the complaint says.
Several weeks later , Gaidish appeared at Tulip, sat by himself in the corner and stared at her, the complaint says. She avoided him.
Laur’s mother, who is a psychotherapist, is expected to testify as an expert witness in the trial.
Read in original article here.