A 12-hour waiting period between when a new inmate arrives at a correctional facility and a strip search was eliminated by a bill the Senate passed Wednesday.

The goal of the bill is to make police and inmates safer by preventing drugs and weapons from getting into jails, but opponents say the bill will encourage invasive procedures and target black people.

Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, co-sponsor of the bill, said if new inmates co-mingle with existing inmates during that 12-hour period, it puts inmates in danger of injury because of possible unknown weapon possession.

“[The bill] makes it safer for [police], but more importantly it makes is safer for the other inmates that may be in the jail,” Allen said.

The passage of the bill came one day after a $5 million settlement for 74 black residents who said they were subjected to illegal strip searches in Milwaukee.

Craig Trost, spokesperson for Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said the recent settlement indicates Milwaukee has a “strip search problem” that will be exacerbated by this new legislation.

Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said in a statement this bill opens the door for police overreach. 

“Just a day after a $5 million settlement for abuse of power by police in Milwaukee in conducting illegal strip searches and body cavity searches, Republican leaders pushed a bill through the Senate that will expand the authority for police officers to perform these searches,” Larson said in the statement.

Trost said Wisconsin incarcerates black men at the most disproportionate rate in the country, so excessive, invasive strip searching will disproportionately affect black men.

But, Allen said this bill actually works to protect black people because it will provide protection for black inmates.

Some facilities are not equipped to keep inmates separate, creating more danger for inmates, Allen said. Faster strip searches will allow new inmates to be integrated in with the current inmates more rapidly, he added.

Elise Schaffer, Dane County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, said in an email to the Badger Herald that allowing police to conduct strip searches, without having to wait 12 hours, will keep county jails safer.

“It would make it less likely that weapons or drugs could find their way into the jail,” Schaffer said in an email to the Badger Herald.

Trost said the 12-hour waiting period for strip searches prevents these invasive searches from being done on people who will be in and out of jail quickly. He said strip searches should only be done for inmates who will be staying in jail for extended periods of time.

Trost said Taylor isn’t against inmates being properly searched for drugs and weapons, but law enforcement should only be doing these searches when they are absolutely necessary.

“When you strip search someone, you strip them of more than their clothes, you strip them of their dignity,” Trost said. “And we want to make sure that happens as rarely … as practicable.”

Allen said most inmates already undergo strip searches now, and this bill just shortens the amount of time that inmates are held before searches are conducted.

Larson said in a statement the bill takes rights away from Wisconsin citizens.

“Today, legislative Republicans stripped our neighbors’ rights away,” Larson said.

The bill will head to the Assembly next.