I am a child abuse investigator; I am not your teacher

I am watching the trial of the child abuse investigator from Arizona that was accused of abuse over a strip search. I don’t know enough details to know if this particular person was in the right or in the wrong and don’t want to debate that. <br><br> I want to share from the perspective of a child abuse investigator that is often required to do medical exams and I agree with many of the points; 1) were this a real strip search I would have lost my job; 2) this is not how strip searches are done. I don’t know if that particular case was compliant with the law and the department’s policies and procedures, but I do know that this is not how we do it in child protective services. <br><br>So this is what i see when I see that video as an investigator:<br><br>1) No search warrant. We don’t need a warrant to do an exam or get a kid in protective custody but we can’t do a criminal search. The item that was found was used to charge the mom. My department would not have been able to use that item as evidence. <br><br>2) No non-investigator witnesses, no nurse. When we do these exams, it has to be at least two investigators, a nurse, and a camera. We have to be able to see everything in sight with no blind spots. One of my coworkers was in trouble because he had his back to the child for a nanosecond. We take these exams seriously. <br><br>3) The were in a cop car. We give kids a private room and will give them a gown if possible; these exams are done in a cop car with no computer or nurse.<br><br>4) No non-invasive were done before a strip search. I can’t tell from the video what the injury was, but we don’t do invasive or non-invasive exams without first asking the child about it. This is called a Giarretto exam and is an interview and non-invasive exam that can often be used as evidence to justify a removal for immediate medical attention. We do not do these exams lightly and we definitely don’t do them without first having a conversation about it. If I call 911 and tell them that a child needs to be checked at the hospital, they get mad at me and said I am wasting their time. I have to be very clear that this is a different kind of call and there needs to be a police report; this is not a medical issue. <br><br>5) The girl’s underwear was pulled to the side. At the very least, her pants should have been down and if it was truly a strip search, all clothes would have been removed and then put back on. A strip search is not done to look for a bruise. <br><br>6) The officer is saying that the child said she was hit with a cord. I don’t know if this is true or not but when we are doing these exams, we ask the child how they were hurt and if it was with an object. We don’t do non-invasive exams or remove their clothes until we know what we are looking for. <br><br>7) I don’t want to sound like a jerk but this is not how kids behave in these situations. The kids are not this calm and do not want this exam. When i do these exams, I am not someone the child trusts, i am the one taking them away from their family. I understand the child in the video is scared but this is not how kids act in our department. <br><br>I see this and i can understand why it looks like abuse; this is not how these exams are supposed to be done and I get that. But this is what we are watching when we see these videos and someone is trying to tell us that we are abusers. <br><br>I want to be very clear: child abuse investigations are very serious. I would never say abuse is not a problem at all. There are abuses that happen on our watch and that is awful. Most of us are really trying and we have become targets. I don’t agree with this particular exam or how it was shown. I don’t know if that particular investigator was abusive and someone should look into it. All i know is that I am tired of being called an abuser just because this is my job. <br><br>Edit: I just want to clarify a few things. <br><br>1) when we are doing an exam, we can’t be in a position where we cannot see the child. This is to protect both the child and us. If i am doing an exam behind a car with my back to the child, i would be fired. <br><br>2) we do not remove clothes. We check the child’s body in the clothes they have on. We do not remove clothes; this is not how these exams are done. We can’t just remove clothes for a strip search. I don’t know how i can make it more clear. If i were to remove clothes, i would be fired. <br><br>3) the exams have to be videoed and in plain sight. We can’t do an exam in a car or behind an object. <br><br>4) we do not do exams in cop cars. This is not how these exams are done. I don’t know if i can state it more clearly. We don’t do exams in cop cars. <br><br>The one thing that I would like to make clear is how these exams are done. They are not done by removing their clothes and they are not done in a cop car. I don’t know if i can state it more clearly. We can’t just remove clothes, this is not how these exams are done. We don’t do exams in cop cars.