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Judge to LAPD: Stop Unlawful Harassment of Skid Row Homeless

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 permalink

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A federal judge has ruled that some of the searches conducted by Los Angeles Police Department officers of Skid Row residents are unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson found that police officers question, and sometimes search, parolees and probationers when they have no evidence to indicate that a crime has been committed. The judge ordered the department to stop the illegal searches and change its policies.

In 2003, the ACLU of Southern California won a court order prohibiting Los Angeles Police from randomly stopping and searching the residents of Skid Row. That order was set to expire last December when the ACLU of Southern California found the illegal searches were still being conducted and returned to court to get the order extended.

On April 20 Pregerson granted a four-month extension finding that the LAPD's own testimony, "admitted to an unconstitutional policy" that violated the rights of Skid Row residents.

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