The Nation - News from April 3, 1989

New York City police acknowledged that 30 women arrested while demonstrating for AIDS research funds were strip-searched, and said at least two police matrons will face departmental charges. The treatment of the members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power was “clearly improper” in light of the “minor charges” against them, said Alice McGillion, deputy police commissioner for public affairs. She said a strip-search is conducted only when there is “reasonable” belief that a suspect is armed or carrying drugs, and even then special permission is required. One of the demonstrators, Catherine Saalfield, 23, of Manhattan, said she was ordered to strip in a cell at Manhattan’s 7th Precinct, but “(police) never checked the pockets of my jacket. It was purely for intimidation and harassment.”