Mount Vernon, NY police force strip searched nearly everyone it arrested, DOJ says [View all]

Source: Associated Press

NY police force strip searched nearly everyone it arrested, DOJ says

Updated 7:49 PM EST, December 13, 2024

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (AP) — A suburban New York police department routinely violated residents’ civil rights, including making illegal arrests and using unnecessary strip and cavity searches, according to a new U.S. Department of Justice report.

The report on a pattern and practice of police misconduct at the department in Mount Vernon, just north of New York City, is one of 12 investigations opened by the DOJ into local policing agencies since 2021, including those sparked by the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.

No single incident prompted the investigation into Mount Vernon’s approximately 160-officer force. But the illegal strip search in 2020 of two women, one age 65 and the other 75, were emblematic of the department’s shortcomings, said the report, which was released Thursday.

Arrested on suspicion of buying drugs, officers searched the women’s car, found nothing, and hauled them into a police station in handcuffs, the report said. Supervisors there approved a fully nude strip search by detectives who “told them to bend over and cough.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/police-civil-rights-new-york-mount-vernon-695ba1d3bf520c47898b721726a1daa6

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Source: U.S. Department of Justice

Justice Department Finds Civil Rights Violations by the Mount Vernon, New York, Police Department

Thursday, December 12, 2024
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department announced today that the Mount Vernon, New York, Police Department (MVPD) engages in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of rights secured by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Specifically, the Justice Department finds that MVPD:

•Uses excessive force in numerous ways, including by unnecessarily escalating minor encounters and by overusing tasers and closed-fist strikes, particularly against individuals who have already been taken to the ground, are controlled by many officers or are already fully or partially restrained;
• Conducted unlawful strip searches and body cavity searches of individuals until at least 2023; and
•Makes arrests without probable cause.

The department also identified serious concerns with MVPD’s practices regarding vehicle stops and evidence collection, as well as serious concerns that MVPD practices may result in discriminatory policing. Deficiencies in policies, training, supervision and accountability systems contribute to MVPD’s unlawful practices.

“Our investigation into the Mount Vernon Police Department reveals a pattern and practice of unlawful conduct that can and must be addressed,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. ...

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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-civil-rights-violations-mount-vernon-new-york-police-department