Colorado juvenile detention staff violated strip-search policy 1,000 times in 9 months, watchdog finds

Staff at Colorado s juvenile detention centers violated policies meant to protect youth during strip searches more than times during nine months between and according to a new review by the Child Protection Ombudsman of Colorado issued Tuesday There is no effective oversight to ensure strip searches at juvenile detention centers are justified and properly documented the review located and the vast majority of youth strip searches did not reveal any contraband raising questions about how Colorado Division of Youth Services staff members are using the invasive procedure In one instance five youth in a detention center were strip-searched because one of them might have been charging a vape pen in a computer classroom the review exposed In another instance a -year-old boy was held in a room by himself for more than hours until he consented to a strip search Another time a youth was strip-searched three times in one day because staff deduced he possessed drug paraphernalia the overview ascertained Nothing was revealed during any of those searches the office released AnneMarie Harper a spokeswoman for the Division of Youth Services did not this instant return a request for comment Tuesday The ombudsman s office discovered protocol violations across youth strip searches statewide during three three-month stretches in and Division of Youth Services staff members failed to document supervisor approval for searches conducted searches with just one staff member present when two are required and failed to clearly document the reasons for searches or the results according to the description When you are talking about the strip search of youth we have to be incredibly careful that we are documenting every detail and trying to treat these youth as safely as workable explained Stephanie Villafuerte the child protection ombudsman About youth between the ages of and are housed at juvenile detention centers statewide according to the document They are strip-searched when they arrive at the facilities after visits with family and after returning to the detention centers from court or other appointments But they are also subject to strip searches when a staff member has reasonable suspicion to believe a juvenile might have contraband The ombudsman s review focused only on those searches for reasonable suspicion which the account noted is arguably the largest part subjective reason for a search a process during which youth fully undress and an adult staff member looks at their naked body The practice is inherently traumatic even when done fully within protocol the description noted Youth who are committed to a detention center are more likely than other juveniles to have suffered abuse and neglect and strip searches can retraumatize them On average staff members revealed contraband in just of the strip searches for reasonable suspicion that the ombudsman s office reviewed Division of Youth Services workers document strip searches in handwritten logs the review exposed That log is supposed to include information on when the search was conducted who approved and carried out the search the purpose of the search and the outcome However the Child Protection Ombudsman s review detected the information in the log was often missing Villafuerte noted Related Articles How conditions inside Golden s now-emptied juvenile detention facility reached a latest point Youth detention center in Golden emptied amid what advocates called deteriorating safety conditions Broken bones excessive force and drug overdoses Inside Colorado s juvenile detention facilities Colorado lawmakers want to add body cameras to youth detention staff We don t know whether these searches are being conducted in a way that is incorrect because we don t have documentation she commented Oftentimes we don t know who conducted the search we don t know if one or more people were present we don t know the underlying reasonable suspicion behind the reason to search Without having the information it makes it incredibly complex to understand whether these searches are being conducted in a way that is effective and if not what can we do to make them effective The office s review was prompted by a youth who filed a complaint in which he alleged he was being wrongly targeted for weekly strip searches The lack of proper documentation in that youth s incident led the office to conduct a statewide review which presented similar problems The ombudsman s office recommended that the Division of Youth Services keep electronic records about strip searches instead of handwritten ones The office also recommended more oversight of strip searches for reasonable suspicion by the Division of Youth Services Quality Assurance a unit within the state Department of Human Services that is tasked with oversight of the juvenile detention centers The unit has previously reviewed strip searches for youth when they enter a detention center but has not regularly reviewed practices around strip searches for reasonable suspicion the ombudsman s office exposed Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day