San Diego Strippers: Cops Made Us Pose for Photos

In San Diego, strip clubs must submit to "regular inspections" by police—but 30 strippers are suing the city and the police chief over "raids" that, they say, went way too far. In three visits over the course of this year and last, the lawsuit filed yesterday alleges, the officers who performed the licensing inspections at Cheetahs Gentlemen's Club and Club Expose forced the "nearly nude" strippers to pose for pictures in various positions, all while making "arrogant and demeaning comments," Reuters reports. The suit also alleges the women were ordered "to expose body parts so that [police] could ostensibly photograph their tattoos," something a police rep says is part of the inspection process.

The rep calls the whole thing a "regulatory matter," according to the Los Angeles Times. But an attorney for the women says the cops went beyond city regulations, and also accuses them of detaining the dancers for more than an hour, with no probable cause. The suit alleges that officers blocked the exits as well, Fox 5 reports. The women want unspecified damages for emotional distress, saying their rights to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure were violated. (More lawsuit stories.)