On February 18, journalist Fábio Pannunzio's blog [pt] and the TV station Rede Band [pt] released a 13-minute video in which a female desk officer with the state police of São Paulo was discharged and strip searched by male investigators from the statewide Office of Internal Affairs. Screenshot from the video in which a female desk officer is being handcuffed and stripped by police officers The case goes back to 2009. At the time, according to Pannunzio and Rede Band, the desk officer had received money from a person accused of carrying a weapon as a bribe for not formally imprisoning the accused. When the delegation of all male representatives from the state police's Office of Internal Affairs showed up at the precinct, they obligated the female desk officer to submit to a strip search in order to find the money. She did not object to submitting herself to a full search. To the contrary; she merely asked that she be searched by female police officers. But her cries were in vain. Handcuffed and thrown to the ground, she quickly had her underwear and lingerie ripped off by a representative who subsequently affirmed that he had indeed found the supposed bribe money on the desk officer's person. On account of the cash found, the desk officer was discharged and now faces criminal bribery charges. The full video of the incident can be viewed on Vimeo. The blogosphere immediately expressed its repudiation of the Office of Internal Affairs’ attitude, stressing the illegality of the measures taken and the office's disregard for the basic principles of a democratic state of law. Vladimir Aras’ Blog do Vlad states that the search performed by the representatives of the Office of Internal Affairs and the aggression taken towards the desk officer were the true crimes documented in the video [pt]: Ao desnudarem à força uma mulher algemada e humilhada no chão de uma delegacia, esses agentes da lei não expuseram apenas “as vergonhas” da suspeita. Exibiram de forma exuberante o vexaminoso cotidiano de parte da Polícia brasileira, useira e vezeira em afrontar direitos humanos dos cidadãos. In the blog Flit Paralisant, police officer Guerra reminded readers that the desk officer had filed a complaint with the Attorney General's Office in 2009 to investigate the abuse of power but that the claim had been swiftly dismissed. The state attorney in the case saw no indication of any crimes committed by investigators from the Office of Internal Affairs. Copies of the request for dismissal are available on the blog as is an e-mail relating the case sent by the desk officer that same year [pt]: O Dr. Eduardo então mandou que eu me despisse por inteira, passei a ficar indignada pois jamais tiraria minhas vestes na frente de oito homens desconhecidos e cheguei a solicitar de joelhos que fosse acionada uma delegada, investigadora ou escriva da corregedoria, visto que propus retirar a roupa somente na frente da policial feminina, respondendo o delegado que não confiava na policial e dizendo com tom ameaçador que só sairia dali ao me ver “pelada” (…) The inspector for the state police of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Stein, who also edits the blog Caso de Polícia (Police Case), vented his frustration [pt]: Infelizmente já vi em vídeos do Youtube centenas de cenas de violência policial praticadas contra cidadãos inocentes ou criminosos. São momentos em que sinto grande e verdadeira vergonha de compartilhar de um cargo policial com determinadas pessoas. Mas, verdadeiramente, hoje não fiquei só enojado ou envergonhado. Senti na verdade uma ânsia de vômito. Desgosto. Abominável. Unfortunately, I have seen hundreds of Youtube videos documenting police violence against both innocent citizens and criminals. Every time I feel such immense and profound shame at sharing a profession with certain individuals. But, truthfully, today I did not feel just disgusted or ashamed. I actually felt sick to my stomach. Nauseated. It's abominable. Danillo Ferreira, a police officer with the military police of Bahia, in his blog Abordagem Policial (Police Approach), states that the behavior of the investigators from the Office of Internal Affairs is not proper and is not what one would expect of an officer [pt]: Um ato que merece o repúdio público, mesmo que haja provas que atestem o crime da ex-policial. After the video was released, the Office of Internal Affairs, cowering from the public outcry, held that is officers committed no irregularities. The blog Escreva, Lola, Escreva (Write, Lola, Write) [pt], by Lola Aronovich, stressed that the incident may be rooted in police officer's sexual satisfaction: Isso me fez lembrar o que Susan Brownmiller conta em seu clássico dos anos 70, Contra a Nossa Vontade.