Police wrongly raided my home. The Constitution should've protected me. |
When Chicago police came to my door on Feb. 21, 2019, officers said they were looking for a criminal. Instead, they found me, a social worker, alone in my home, naked as I was changing clothes, believing I was safe.
Even though the warrant listed a man’s name, they forced their way in, handcuffed me while naked and left me standing there – humiliated, exposed and terrified – as they searched every room of my home. I kept asking who they were looking for and why they were there, but my questions were met with silence and indifference.
In that moment, I was not treated as a human being. I was treated as if my dignity did not matter. More than a year later, a police accountability board found that officers committed nearly 100 acts of misconduct during the search of my home.
But no report can fully capture what it feels like to have your sense of safety shattered, your trust broken and your humanity questioned in your own........