RAPED BY POLICE: STARK COUNTY RAPE SEARCH-VICTIM ASSAULTED BY POLICE, 'CRIMINAL TRESPASS ON A PUBLIC SIDEWALK', AND THE POLICE STATE

Stark County Strip Searches
Victoria Hardy





[Victoria Hardy (blog) is the drummer for the pop duo 3 Feet Up. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, who is also the other half of the duo and they have released 2 CDs since 2005: 3 feet up CDs. 3 Feet Up was featured in the Living Room Live Series on the CBS Early Show in July of 2006.]

By Victoria Hardy
February 04, 2008
It seems we are sliding further and further into the rabbit hole and if the days of gentle and compassionate law enforcement ever truly existed, well, they are surely gone now. It´s no secret that our police departments are becoming militarized and it appears that in certain areas of the country the idea "to serve and protect" has gone the way of the dinosaurs. I ran across a disturbing video and I will issue a warning now that it is very difficult to watch. WKYC

It all began in Stark County, Ohio when Hope Steffey was assaulted by a cousin and another cousin called 911 for assistance. When the officer arrived, Ms. Steffey accidentally handed over her deceased sister´s license, which she kept for sentimental reasons. She immediately noticed the mistake and gave the officer her own identification and asked for her sister´s to be returned. The officer refused to return her sister´s license. The officer ran a check on Ms. Steffey´s license and found no infractions, but continued to treat her as though she were the perpetrator of the crime, instead of the victim.

Ms. Steffey states she begged for the return of her sister´s license until Officer Gurlea lost his patience and shouted, "shut up about your dead sister." When Ms. Steffey pointed at the officer´s pocket, which held her sister´s id, and said, "she was here, she was someone", Officer Gurlea threw her face down on the hood of his patrol car, chipping one of her teeth. And according to documents filed by Hope and Greg Steffey with the United States District Court in Cleveland, Officer Gurlea then threw Steffey to the ground. Although Ms. Steffey´s cousin repeatedly reminded the officer that Steffey was the victim and had been knocked unconscious in the previous assault, Officer Gurlea handcuffed Steffey and put her into the back of his patrol car, refusing her medical care.

Hope Steffey was then taken to the county jail and forcibly strip-searched by 6 to 7 male and female deputies, despite Stark County´s own policy which states that a strip search must be conducted by a same sex officer. She was left in a cell for 6 hours with no clothing or even a blanket and eventually wrapped herself in toilet tissue for warmth and modesty. She was not allowed a phone call or medical attention and when she was later taken to booking, she was given only a small weighted vest to cover her nudity. She was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Salem News

Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson states the reason Steffey´s clothes were taken from her and she was left naked and exposed in a cell, was for her own safety. Sheriff Swanson maintains that his deputies are not guilty of any wrongdoing and that they have a job to protect prisoners in their custody. Canton Rep

Attorneys for Ms. Steffey do not believe that the sheriff´s office has handed over all of the footage from the night of the arrest and the dashboard camera was not turned on during most of the incident. In a second installment from WKYC, mounted video cameras in the jail show an officer filming Ms. Steffey´s arrest, but lawyers claim they have yet to receive the footage. WKYC

Interestingly enough, Ms. Steffey´s is not the first lawsuit filed in Stark County for illegal strip search. On May 18, 2007, three girls aged 14,15 and 16 arrived at the Multi-County Juvenile Attention Center for an arraignment following charges of "criminal trespass on a public sidewalk". Instead of going before a judge the girls were informed by a court worker that the case would be over if they agreed to 20 hours of community service, to attend school regularly and take a 15 minute tour of the Attention Center. Unbeknownst to the girl´s parents, who waited downstairs for the tour to be over, the girls were taken upstairs and strip-searched while guards made disparaging remarks. There was no reason for the strip search as the girls were not under arrest or about to be confined and they had been through a metal detector and searched upon entering the building. Sheriff Swanson confirms that an investigation is underway, but states no conclusions have been reached.Canton Rep

I understand that occasionally strip searches may be necessary, but Hope Steffey was the victim, not a violent criminal and had yet to be charged with any crime. The charges against Ms. Steffey were disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Is acting disorderly after an assault a reason to be strip-searched? Couldn´t the very act of "disorderly conduct" after being knocked unconscious be a clue that Ms. Steffey may have needed medical assistance? And as the victim of an assault isn´t it reasonable that Ms. Steffey may resist arrest? She was the victim of the crime, not the perpetrator and I am sure she was mightily confused as to why she was being taken to jail. And what of her rights as a citizen of this country not to be violated and humiliated for a minor offense?

Ms. Steffey stated that she felt "raped, without penetration" and really, how else could she feel after being handcuffed, held down and having her clothes forcibly removed by both men and women? Rape, after all, is not a sexual act; it is an act of power, force and humiliation. She was not charged with a violent crime and yet her rights, her dignity and her clothing were stripped from her with total disregard to the fact that she was the victim and a human being. Is this how police officers in Stark County are being trained to treat victims and minor offenders?

The footage of Ms. Steffey´s violation is difficult to watch, but at least some footage has surfaced. Attorneys for the three teenage girls believe that the surveillance footage at the Attention Center has been concealed or destroyed. Stark County Family Court Judge David E. Stucki was handling arraignments at the Attention Center the day the minor girls were allegedly strip-searched and although he will not publicly discuss this case, he says he often handles low-level offenses informally. The tour through the Attention Center is designed to scare kids straight, but Judge Stucki says he does not know specifically what occurs during the "tours". Attorneys for the girls are seeking to discover if other children have been strip-searched on an Attention Center tour.

Sheriff responds to strip-search video
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Repository staff report

CANTON Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson issued a statement Friday related to a woman's 2006 arrest and a videotape showing her being stripped naked at the Stark County Jail by male and female deputies.

The arrest of Hope Steffey of Salem was featured in a Channel 3 news report Thursday night.
Steffey has a pending federal lawsuit against Swanson's department, saying she was assaulted by deputies, denied medical help and was the victim of excessive force during her arrest on Oct. 20-21, 2006.

The complaint is pending in U.S. District Court before Judge David D. Dowd Jr.

Swanson's statement said his office investigated an incident involving Steffey. She was charged and later convicted in Alliance Municipal Court of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, he said.

"We have answered all inquiries by the attorneys and we are prepared to proceed in a court of law, NOT IN THE MEDIA," Swanson said in a statement.

He declined to comment further, citing the pending allegations.

Steffey's attorneys, David B. Malik of Chesterland and Dennis J. Nierman of Cleveland, could not be reached Friday for comment.

Channel 3's report prompted numerous calls Friday to the Stark County commissioners' office. Commissioner Todd Bosley declined to comment.

According to Steffey's lawsuit originally filed in October and since amended:

Steffey, 47, was assaulted by a cousin on Oct. 20, 2006, on Weimer Drive SE, prompting a 911 call. A sheriff's deputy arrived and Steffey mistakenly gave the deputy her deceased sister's driver's license, not her own. The deputy refused to hand it back when she noticed the mistake and she pleaded for its return, the lawsuit said.

The deputy did not get medical help for Steffey's assault wounds and instead assaulted Steffey, the lawsuit said. The deputy slammed her into his cruiser, cracking one of her teeth, and later slammed her into the ground, causing cuts and bruises, the lawsuit said.

Later at the jail, Steffey said she was asked, "Have you thought about harming yourself?" She responded, "Now or ever?"

She said she was immediately stripped by male and female guards without ever being asked to voluntarily remove her clothing.

"The force used by these defendants was unreasonable and excessive. The force used was designed to inflict pain and to punish," the lawsuit said.

She was later left in a cell naked for six hours. "In order to keep warm and regain her dignity, Hope wrapped herself in toilet paper to keep (the unnamed guards) or anyone else from seeing her naked. This situation was designed to humiliate, inflict emotional pain and to punish."

Steffey was given a suspended jail term for her convictions.

DENIALS

In a written response to the lawsuit, Swanson and his deputies deny wrongdoing and maintain the arresting deputy, Richard T. Gurlea Jr., and others at the jail are allowed to use reasonable force to make an arrest and protect prisoners in their custody.

The department does not deny that Steffey was stripped of her clothes and left naked in a cell for six hours.

The defense has asked a judge to dismiss the claims.

Dowd has set a status conference for May.