In two previous cases with this officer, cocaine fell out of bras as a result of bra-shaking.
LAKELAND OFFICER INVOLVED IN BRA-SHAKING TRAFFIC STOP GETS ONE-DAY SUSPENSION
Officer Dustin Fetz disciplined for misuse of recording equipment
By Rick Rousos
The Ledger
September 26, 2013
LAKELAND, FL -- The Lakeland police officer who asked a woman to shake her bra during a traffic stop May 21 has been suspended for a day without pay.
Officer Dustin Fetz was notified Wednesday that he would be suspended, LPD spokesman Sgt. Gary Gross said.
Fetz was suspended for a "sustained" violation of misusing recording equipment. The audio on his recorder was off during the taping of the bra-shaking incident because Fetz didn't use the microphone he was provided, LPD investigators found.
But the LPD's review of the incident released Wednesday said Fetz's request to the woman to shake her bra to see whether she was hiding drugs did not violate police search policy or the law.
The LPD documents describe it as a "consensual search."
However, in mid-August LPD Chief Lisa Womack said the LPD policy required a same-sex officer to do any strip searches, so the bra shaking never should have happened.
Womack said through a police spokesman Wednesday night that she was unavailable for comment.
The widely-viewed videotape of the bra-shaking incident ignited public outrage. The LPD said there were threats on Fetz's life.
On May 21, Fetz stopped Zoe Brugger, whose boyfriend was her passenger, and she pulled into a Beacon Road apartment complex.
According to the State Attorney's Office, Fetz asked Brugger to lift her shirt and shake out her bra, all without a reason to suspect she possessed drugs.
A main reason for the four-month delay between the date of the incident and the suspension was that Womack wanted the FBI to look at the case.
Included in the documents released by the LPD on Wednesday is a Sept. 16 letter from the FBI to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa saying the case would not be acceptable for a federal prosecution.
"This matter did not rise to a level of investigative significance in which a federal criminal indictment" was warranted, FBI Special Agent Kevin Eaton wrote.
The FBI did not do its own investigation but reviewed LPD documents.
According to the documents released Wednesday, the LPD found two other incidents in which Fetz used the bra-shaking procedure to make arrests in northwest Lakeland, one in November 2010 and the other in March this year.
The bra shaking both times produced cocaine, reports said.
A letter about the bra shaking published by The Ledger spurred Womack to order an in-house administrative investigation. Fetz was placed on administrative duty from June 10 to June 21.
Fetz has been a full-time LPD officer since 2008 and is paid $48,331 a year.
Through the department, Fetz declined comment Wednesday night.
In addition to his unpaid day off, Fetz must successfully complete retraining in arrest and search procedures and seizure laws.
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