Suzanne Garcia was already humiliated enough. In 2020, she stood in a La Plata County Jail cell, removing her clothing on command while a female officer watched. Raise both arms. Lift each breast. Run fingers through hair. Show hands and feet. Turn around. Bend over and squat. Separate butt cheeks. Cough. The procedure felt excessive, she said, but she had no choice. What Garcia did not know was that her search was captured on a body-worn camera and later allegedly viewed by the jail’s own commander.
The Allegations
Edward Aber, who served as commander of the La Plata County Jail in Durango, Colorado, is accused of accessing strip search recordings more than 3,000 times over five years. According to county and state officials, Aber logged into the county’s evidence database at least 3,166 times and viewed videos of 117 incarcerated women. Criminal charges filed last year indicate the viewings sometimes occurred from hotel rooms and residential addresses.
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Garcia learned about the recordings last year when a reporter from the Durango Herald called. She was one of dozens of women whose videos Aber allegedly viewed. “His grandson took my daughter to homecoming,” Garcia said. The small community made the violation feel even more personal. Aber has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
From Outrage to Action
Garcia, a former chairwoman for the county’s Democratic Party, did not stop at expressing her distress. She went to the district attorney’s office asking what it planned to do. When that yielded no satisfactory answers, she contacted her state representative’s office, which connected her with the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
From there, Garcia worked with coalition advocates and other alleged victims to draft legislation that would prevent future abuses. Advocates working in sexual violence prevention told The 19th that the new law is the result of survivors coming together to demand legislative change. They also hope it will be a model for other states — an effort to reconsider the pervasive use of strip searches in the criminal legal system.
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A New Standard for Colorado Jails
In May, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the legislation, establishing clearer parameters for when strip searches can occur in state jails. The law permits searches during intake, if staff have a reasonable belief an incarcerated person is concealing contraband, or if a particular scenario has a history of producing contraband—such as an overdose in the facility. The law also includes whistleblower protections to prevent retaliation against jail staff who report misconduct.
Omny Miranda Martone, founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association, said strip searches are performed far more often than most people realize, sometimes hundreds of times per year for individuals in custody. They are also done when people move between facility buildings and before and after visits with family members, which can discourage people from seeing their loved ones. Martone’s organization assisted with advocating for the Colorado law and hopes it will become a model for other states.
Corrections officials have argued that strip searches help maintain facility safety by intercepting contraband like drugs, weapons, cash, or prohibited items. However, data on the effectiveness of visual or physical searches remains limited. A 2019 study by the Washington State Department of Corrections found that during a pilot program using body scanners as an alternative to strip searches, contraband detection increased from an average of two discoveries per month to 10 per month.
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Newman noted that the new Colorado law is limited to jails and does not include prisons, partly due to budget constraints and limited federal oversight. Her organization plans to monitor implementation and review data collected by jails to inform potential future legislation for state prisons.
Stewart and Rep. Javier Mabrey introduced the bill to the Colorado House in February, and it was passed and signed by May. In July 2025, Aber was arrested and charged with 117 counts of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification and one count of first degree official misconduct. His criminal trial was initially scheduled to begin August 10 but was pushed to November due to scheduling conflicts.