No, nothing to do with Spitzer’s peccadilloes, but a similar affliction is spreading like a cancer amongst the Albany Police Department.  As reported by the Albany Times-Union, a series of allegations of bizarre conduct have emerged accusing Albany cops of engaging in outrageous and unjustified cavity searches.  

[A] 22-year-old Troy woman who said she was unlawfully strip-searched by members of the Albany Police Department and then forced to undergo a pelvic cavity search at Albany Medical Center Hospital on Jan. 28…The January incident allegedly unfolded when a vehicle in which Crystal Royal, 22, was traveling was stopped by police on Interstate 787. It’s not clear whether she was the driver or if others were in the car.

Royal’s driver’s license was current and her vehicle was properly registered and inspected, according to the claim filed by her attorney Terence L. Kindlon of Albany. He said she was not stopped for any traffic infraction. She was made to stand on the roadway for an extended period of time while her car, body and purse were searched.

Royal was then transported to an Albany police station, where she was “involuntarily subjected to an unlawful body cavity and strip search” that included having her squat naked in front of a female officer.

And then:

That legal filing comes a little more than a week after police leaders defended their internal investigation into a complaint by a Ravena woman who said she was subjected to a cavity search on a public street during a traffic stop on Dec. 22.

In the Dec. 28 incident, no drugs or contraband were found on the Ravena woman, Lisa Shutter, and she was not ticketed or arrested after her body, car and purse were searched by officers who did not have a search warrant.

And then:

In another case with similar allegations, an Albany man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Albany County Sheriff’s Department in connection with his arrest at the Albany bus terminal two years ago. The man, Tunde Clement, was charged with a misdemeanor for resisting arrest but then was forced to undergo a strip-search at sheriff’s headquarters. He was then transported to Albany Med and was forcibly sedated as he underwent an anoscopy, X-rays and other examinations in a search for drugs. No drugs were found.

The problem here is not whether it is lawful for cops to engage in cavity searches, whether on the street (think about this) or elsewhere, or whether there’s a good reason to drug a defendant, engage in forcible intrusive medical procedures.  It’s all illegal.  It’s immoral.  It’s plain old wrong.

No, the problem here is much more basic.  There are a bunch of people running around Albany in uniform, with guns and shields, committing crimes against people and collecting public paychecks for their efforts.  Who stops them?  How would you like to be Lisa Shutter explaining why the cops performed a cavity search of you on the street.  How would you like to be the doctor drugging Tunde Clement and performing an anoscopy because the cops told you to do it.  This is mere inches away from Abner Louima.

Things sound like they’ve gone way off the deep end in the Albany Police Department.  It’s good to know that Terry Kindlon is on the case, but where are our public officials to put a stop to this horrific abuse by their cops?  This is really sick stuff.