Dear Lakeland, Florida Police Department:
Stop telling women to shake their bras for you. You’re on the job, not at a gentlemen’s club.
According to Bay News 9, those are more or less the words Florida State Attorney Jerry Hill had for Lakeland Police after he found out about the department's fondness for bra-shaking during drug searches.
The issue was brought to Hill’s attention by Florida resident, Zoe Brugger. Brugger and her boyfriend were stopped by Lakeland Police Officer Dustin Fetz because they had a headlight out. While Fetz had the couple pulled over, he decided to search them and their car for drugs because Brugger seemed “too nervous not have anything” on her
“He asked me if I had any drugs on me and I said no,” Brugger said. “Then he said, well pull out your pockets and turn them out and pull out your bra and shake it. I did it and he said to do it again, shake it and flip the under wire part out.”
Officer Fetz found no drugs on Brugger or her boyfriend.
Feeling uncomfortable about how she was searched, Brugger contacted her lawyer, Richard Wiley. Wiley wrote a letter that was posted in the Ledger, a Lakeland newspaper. The state attorney saw the letter and called for an investigation. The investigation found the search to be unconstitutional. Hill was informed that other officer used the bra-shake technique and called it a “major training deficiency.”
Here’s an excerpt from Lakeland Police Chief Lisa Womack’s statement on this shaky situation:
This department does not condone the alleged actions as have been reported in recent days and any officer proven to be involved in this type behavior will be dealt with accordingly, including possible termination. Full disclosure of findings will be made upon completion of our administrative investigation.
The Lakeland Police Department is a professional police department with quality officers dedicated to keeping our community safe.
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