# Get arrested? - Bend over. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 2, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602 "2012-04-02T17:07:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/41 "2012-04-03T13:25:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The ideal is the searcher never touches the searchee. The person being searched removes his own clothing (I’ll say his because I’ve never conducting a strip search on a woman). You do a visual check. The guy being searched runs his fingers through his hair and pulls his ears forward so you can see behind them. He opens his mouth, lifts up his tongue, and pulls his lips and cheeks out so you can see inside his mouth. He holds out his hands and feet and wiggles his fingers and toes. He lifts up his arms. Then he does have to “bend over and spread them” so we can see between his buttocks. And the last part is he lifts up his testicles, lifts up his penis, and peels back his foreskin. And when you’re insolent you’re placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds- pretty standard really. But yeah, that’s really pretty much the drill. Not horribly humiliating, but not my idea of a date, either. Nemo, have you ever had someone object strongly to the search? I’m surprised that they don’t strip search you in Houston. I’ve only been lucky enough to be actually inducted into county, not city lock-up. That might make all the difference. In the county lock up I was in, there wasn’t a distinction between the people who were going to be there for a few hours or a few days. Getting searched and issued a jumpsuit came at the end of talking your prints. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/42 "2012-04-03T13:28:57Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > But yeah, that’s really pretty much the drill. Not horribly humiliating, but not my idea of a date, either. Not horribly humiliating to me, I’ve been through it on a weekend stint in county many eons ago, but then I am not anywhere near prudish about naked human bodies. The opinion mentions nuns undergoing such a procedure, though. I am pretty sure they have a decidedly different opinion about nude bodies. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/43 "2012-04-03T13:37:42Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > All criminals have the same rights no matter what offense they are arrested for, the strip search is not part of the punishment, it is a response to the problem of smuggled contraband which can not be solved in any other manner. The dissent assumes that the judges know how to conduct contraband searches better than the prison guards do. I find that highly unlikely. However, the dissent also correctly distinguishes between “criminals” and “arrestees”, which you do not. That is not to say that the decision is wrong, just that defending it on the grounds that Criminals Are Bad People is silly. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/44 "2012-04-03T13:53:10Z")
All we have to do is pay anyone jailed due to faulty information in the database about $1000 a day. We can take it out of the database manager’s account. I bet things would improve right quick. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/45 "2012-04-03T13:57:18Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Minimum security, maximum security. Or did that go away? Does the Constitution have to be explicit about that? 1. The Constitution doesn’t require those distinctions. 2. Those distinctions apply to prisons, not jails. I’m not aware of any maximum security jails. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/46 "2012-04-03T14:00:26Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > I agree with the point you are making generally, but it is really a matter of course to strip search any person who is put in jail for short periods of time (as opposed to prison)? Do people arrested for DUIs or public drunkenness get strip searched? If they are admitted to general population, yes. That is, if they surrender their clothes and get orange jumpsuits, they are strip-searched. If they are simply held while bail is arranged or released on a personal bond, then no. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/47 "2012-04-03T15:45:27Z")
Apparently I decided to be a bit of a bonehead. I blame the wine. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/48 "2012-04-03T15:49:31Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Apparently I decided to be a bit of a bonehead. I blame the wine. Blame it on the Bossa Nova. ---
**Author:** ![curioushat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@curioushat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curioushat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/49 "2012-04-03T16:06:32Z")
I’m upset that I am not the first person to respond to this. It seems fairly obvious why this should not be allowed. In Florida, it was revealed that out of 23,000 prisoners, only one was hiding contraband that would otherwise not have been found. Is it worth it to strip search thousands of prisoners in order to try to catch one smuggling in contraband? Even if this actually caused the death of more than one person due to suicide? Would it then be legal to do a cavity search since it is possible that someone is trying to smuggle something through those means? Force feeding laxatives in case something is smuggled through the stomach? Additionally, there was a reasonable suspicion clause. This says that the guards must have some sort of reasoning as to why strip search the prisoners. Not just, “I feel like it”. More like “I have an actual reason why he/she may be smuggling something”. Now it can just be “I feel like it”, or “I am attracted to the person and want to see them naked” or “I would like to humiliate him/her because he/she is being rude to me” Additionally, it is already permitted to search an arrestee down to his underwear, as part of general procedure. Also, these are arrestees, not convicts, indicating that these are not criminals yet but regular citizens. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/50 "2012-04-03T16:08:35Z")
> [@curioushat](#): > > In Florida, it was revealed that out of 23,000 prisoners, only one was hiding contraband that would otherwise not have been found. > > Is it worth it to strip search thousands of prisoners in order to try to catch one smuggling in contraband? Even if this actually caused the death of more than one person due to suicide? Do you suppose that the existence of this procedure has the effect that people don’t try to smuggle things in this way? We’re not talking about tiger charms here, people do smuggle things in to jails. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/51 "2012-04-03T16:23:31Z")
If I were detained in a jail, I would have an expectation that some sort of search like this would be done. I might not like it, especially if I was innocent, but it seems reasonable to me. This seems like an area where the courts rightly defer to the legislators. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/52 "2012-04-03T16:26:05Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > Do you suppose that the existence of this procedure has the effect that people don’t try to smuggle things in this way? We’re not talking about tiger charms here, people do smuggle things in to jails. I agree that it’s necessary, but I doubt many people are wandering around with contraband in nature’s pocket when they get arrested. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/53 "2012-04-03T16:32:21Z")
Cite for the Florida “finding”? ---
**Author:** ![curioushat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@curioushat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curioushat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/54 "2012-04-03T16:40:25Z")
‘leaving only one instance in 23,000 in which the strip search policy “arguably” detected additional contraband. Id., at 70.’ [http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-945.pdf](http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-945.pdf) Page 8 of Justice Breyer’s dissenting opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/55 "2012-04-03T19:09:10Z")
I think part of the disconnect here is that to a lot of people, a “jail” is like the cell that Otis lets himself into on _The Andy Griffith Show_ or the cage in the detectives’ bureau on _Barney Miller_. “Holding cells” or “drunk tanks” aren’t as common as they used to be, and in a lot of places the county jail is a high-tech, high-security operation that often leases out space for actual _prisoners_, not just people being held temporarily. A lot of jails are set up in a way that they are of higher security than a usual minimum-security prison. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/56 "2012-04-03T21:15:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > If they are admitted to general population, yes. That is, if they surrender their clothes and get orange jumpsuits, they are strip-searched. If they are simply held while bail is arranged or released on a personal bond, then no. Correct. And again, this has nothing to do with the severity of the offense, but the procedure the local jail follows. If they have a judge on call all of the time, you could be arrested for something like car jacking and if someone comes down to post your $100k bond, then you never change into the jumpsuit or get strip-searched. Conversely, if you get arrested for shoplifting and nobody will post your $500 bond, you get processed into the jail: a process which includes a strip-search and a jumpsuit. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/57 "2012-04-03T21:23:49Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I agree that it’s necessary, but I doubt many people are wandering around with contraband in nature’s pocket when they get arrested. I agree completely. I also doubt many people are under constant supervision prior to being strip-searched, so it could go from “not detected in a pat down” to “nature’s pocket” (which is incidentally a great term I’ve not heard before). ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/58 "2012-04-03T21:33:06Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > I agree completely. I also doubt many people are under constant supervision prior to being strip-searched, so it could go from “not detected in a pat down” to “nature’s pocket” (which is incidentally a great term I’ve not heard before). I have a friend’s dad who was a prison guard, and they called it the “keister bunny”. 😃 Yeah, if you’re going into any sort of general population you gotta be searched. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/59 "2012-04-04T00:16:25Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Nemo, have you ever had someone object strongly to the search? Yes. Pretty much the same procedure only we do it to him rather than him doing it himself. Which meant it was a pretty rare event. A prisoner might refuse because he thinks we won’t push the issue. But when he realizes we’re serious, he usually decides he’d rather pull his butt cheeks apart himself than have a guard do it to him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602/60 "2012-04-04T00:19:43Z")
> [@curioushat](#): > > In Florida, it was revealed that out of 23,000 prisoners, only one was hiding contraband that would otherwise not have been found. > > Is it worth it to strip search thousands of prisoners in order to try to catch one smuggling in contraband? Even if this actually caused the death of more than one person due to suicide? My experience was in prisons not county jails. But the percentage of prisoners who had contraband during a strip was definitely higher than that. I’d ballpark it at around one out of every hundred. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-arrested-bend-over/617602.md?page=4)