ILLEGAL STRIP SEARCHES TO COST NEW YORK CITY $50 MILLION

NEW YORK -- Tens of thousands of people who claimed they were illegally
strip-searched after being arrested for minor offenses could get up to
$22,500 each under a $50 million settlement from the city.

The searches were conducted by jail guards during 10 months in 1996 and
1997. They often were performed on first-time offenders arrested for minor
infractions like loitering and disorderly conduct as part of Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani's crackdown on "quality of life" violations.

"Strip searches are a barbaric and degrading law enforcement tool that
people accused of minor offenses should not suffer," Richard D. Emery, a
lawyer for the plaintiffs, said yesterday.

Strip searches of people charged with minor offenses are prohibited unless
there is reason to believe they are concealing weapons or other contraband.

The money will go to as many as 60,000 people in amounts ranging from $250
to $22,500. The settlement is subject to approval by a federal judge.

The amounts will be based on the circumstances of the individual searches
and will take into account the emotional effect on the victims.

"I was in tears, asking why was it necessary and was told that this was not
the place to be asking questions," said Danni Tyson, whose disorderly
conduct charges were dropped after her arrest.

Police Chief Bernard Kerik, who was a first deputy at the Correction
Department during the period that the strip searches took place, defended
the searches as a way to keep weapons out of holding cells.

"Personally, I would tend to disagree and say anybody that you take off the
streets of the city, and you're going to put those people into a confined
and secluded area with other people that have been arrested for crimes,
they should be strip-searched for the safety of the people who are in
there," he said.

The mayor said the searches began after a shift in job functions between
police officers and jail guards. The guards, accustomed to conducting such
searches of inmates, did not realize it was illegal to strip-search people
who have not been arraigned, Giuliani said.

Carlos Morales said he was subjected to a group strip search after he was
arrested for driving with a suspended license and a broken tail light.

"All I know is throughout this whole ordeal, my mind was saying that was
it, I was going to die, I was going to be raped," he said.

Correction officers and inmates also taunted him during the search, Morales
said.

"All I know is no money, no nothing, will make up for that kind of
humiliation that I went through," he said.