December 15, 2005 Oakland Police Officer Ingo Mayer pulled over a cadillac.  The officer claimed he had pulled the vehicle over for a traffic violation, but could not provide a reason or any documentation for having done so.  Officer Mayer then strip handcuffed and strip searched the two men in the vehicle, publicly exposing their buttocks and genitals to everyone in a busy intersection for approximately 5-7 minutes.

US District Court Judge Marilyn Patel found that the Officer Mayer had pulled the car over with "no reasonable suspicion" to justify a stop and that Mayer "deliberately, callously and oppressively violated the plantiffs's Fourth Amendment Rights".

A lawsuit was filed against Officer Mayer and $205,000 was awarded, plus $832,000 in lawyers fees to attorney John Burris.  While this claim was filed against the Officer, the city as the employer is obligated the pay the suit.

Following this case, the city settled to pay an additional $4.6 million in damages to 39 other plaintiffs who accused the Oakland Pole of illegally strip searching them in public between 2002 and 2009.  It is unknown if there were lawyers fees paid on top of these damages.

Council members Ignacio De La Fuente and Jane Brunner voted against the settlement.  De La Fuente said Oakland can't "allow the settlements to continue".

It is unknown if Officer Mayer or any of the other officers responsible for illegally strip searching people on Oakland streets were disciplined for their actions.  

References

 

Please see the full list of police misconduct and continue to add entries for specific instances of OPD misconduct.

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