Officials: Lakeland cop told woman to lift shirt, shake bra during traffic stop

[reflection]

Source: WFTV.com

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A Lakeland Police Department officer is accused of ordering a woman during a traffic stop to lift her shirt, exposing her stomach, and then telling her to pull her bra away from her body and shake it, according to authorities.

The Police Department said officers have used this method to search for drugs before, but the State Attorney's Office wrote a letter to Lakeland Police Chief Lisa Womack detailing the investigation in response to a citizen's letter to The Lakeland Ledger describing the incident.

The letter stated that Zoe Brugger was pulled over for a front headlight being out, and she was asked to step out of the car. The officers searched the car, Brugger and her passenger, Larry Fields, the letter states.

Brugger was in tears as she followed the officer's orders. The event was caught on the cruiser's dashboard camera.

Read more: http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/officials-lakeland-cop-told-woman-lift-shirt-shake/nYQbK/

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Sometimes I think about the world my daughters will inherit and just get sad and angry. Can any LEOs on this board tell me if this is a widely accepted practice in other areas?

[BeyondGeography]

1. Sounds familiar

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017124604

[reflection]

2. Yes, that was horrible.

My heart just went out to her.

[darkangel218]

3. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!

Fuking pig!

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

4. Making the world safe, one stop at a time.

[darkangel218]

6. Yah, and theyre never around when you actually need them :(

[ChairmanAgnostic]

15. one grope at a time.

[sakabatou]

5. Hope he's fired

[tom_kelly]

9. You would hope, but

he was only suspended for 4 days - with pay. Article doesn't include that bit.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

7. Do you notice that we may complain about it, but not those in the Senate, Congress, or the WH?

Where's the leadership from our own party?

[reflection]

8. that's a darn good question. n/t

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

12. Imagine if anyone else behaved like that...

Especially a celebrity, it would be on every Chanel for weeks, and never forgotten.

Strange, ain't it...

[truedelphi]

10. All these sick F__ks need to be permanently removed from

Local Police Departments.

Way back in 2006, when my household was totally struggling with an onslaught of problems, including doctors saying my spouse might not live for another month, I was stopped for speeding. I was going 57 in a 55 MPH zone. The sheriff who stopped me was so obnoxious, reading me the riot act, and at that point I had had it with life. At one point, he said, "I am going to my car to check your registration and license and if you get out of your car, i will shoot you."

My brain was so weary from everything it had been through I thought, "Good!" And I got out of the car.

He amended his statement to "If you don't get back in your car, I will arrest you." So I complied.

He then went into a spiel about what a lowlife I was. And he went on and on. All because I was going two miles faster than the speed limit.

Anyway I picked up the local news paper a week ago to find out this deputy had been indicted on over thirty counts of child molestation, assault and pedophilia! Now he is being tried in Marin County, and it will be a rather lengthy trial.

The only other time in my life that I had such a bad feeling about a policeman was a lifetime ago, when I reported a neighbor's abuse of his daughter .(The 10 year old ended up with a broken arm from her dad beating her.) The responding police officer in Bolingbrook Illinois was Peterson, the same guy that all these years later was discovered to be a serial wife murderer! As response to my complaint, he let me know in no civil manner that every man has the right to discipline his family members the way he sees fit!

[premium]

11. And cops wonder why they are so mistrusted?

I'm a retired LEO, granted, a USFS Ranger, but I never treated any suspect this way.
Our police forces have gotten way out of control and need to be reigned in.

[atreides1]

13. The problem is the militarization.

Most LEO's consider themselves to be paramilitaries...more emphasis is placed on military style training and equipment and less on the actual reason they're given a badge...the enforcement of civilian laws!

Just look at what paramilitary units are capable of...in places like Mexico, Columbia, and you get a good idea of the possible direction that American law enforcement is headed.

Even the SCOTUS has ruled that police have no Constitutional duty to protect citizens,

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html?_r=0

[premium]

14. Absolutely.

Our LEA's need to get back to the walk the beat type of cops, leave the specialty police work to the SWAT teams and use them only in the most dire circumstances, not for everyday duties.

Even our small Sheriffs Office now has a APC, I asked a friend of mine on the Dept. why, all he could say to me was he didn't know why, it was a huge waste of time and money to configure it their needs and it's just been sitting there since they got it, hasn't been used once.

[premium]

16. This particular incident happened in a Las Vegas Family Court.

The video of the woman begging the Judge to help her is very disturbing.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/crime-courts/victim-family-court-groping-incident-files-federal-lawsuit

Your going to love the reason why ex marshal Ron Fox says the arrest was legal and proper, he says because no one in the court stopped him.

[firenewt]

17. So, if I decided to blow Fox's balls off and nobody stopped me, would this be legal and proper?

[premium]

18. Going by his logic,

yeah. Apparently her complaint started a massive investigation into the Family Court system.

[nebenaube]

20. the judge needs to resign... period.

don't defend this shit asshole! < preemptive... and this jury shit on du is rigged.

[Ash_F]

22. She did get fired.

Should have gone to jail.

[nebenaube]

19. Enjoy your pot free world... n/t

[Ash_F]

21. Hey if you got nothing to hide, you got nothing to worry about.