Note: This story originally appeared on the St. Louis Business Journal.

A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in St. Louis says that St. Louis County police arrest residents without warrants, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The suit, filed by lawyers with nonprofit legal aid group ArchCity Defenders on behalf of 31-year-old Dwayne Furlow, an African-American, describes that practice as a “warrantless arrest procedure” called a “wanted.” It lists St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, St. Louis County and a St. Louis County police officer called only “Walsh” as defendants.

“Under this system, ordinary police officers have been given the power to order the arrest of anyone in the County at any time, purportedly for the purpose of ‘questioning’ the person in custody without criminal charge or judicial oversight,” the suit states. “This secretive and unaccountable exercise of police power has long devastated largely impoverished black residents of St. Louis County, as hundreds of human beings have been swept from their homes, schools, and families, and brought in for ‘questioning’ by St. Louis County police officers... This system flagrantly violates the United States Constitution and has no place in a free society.”

A spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department referred questions to the St. Louis County Counselor Peter Krane, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, cites the U.S. Department of Justice’s March 2015 report on the Ferguson Police Department, which said that law enforcement in the county uses the system of “wanteds” as a substitute for seeking judicial approval for an arrest warrant.

“It’s obviously more widespread than just Ferguson and St. Louis County. It’s a region-wide practice,” Thomas Harvey, executive director at ArchCity Defenders, said in an interview. He added that the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department also uses the “wanteds” system, which has been in existence in Missouri for many years.

“It’s a pretty uncommon practice,” Harvey said. “Most jurisdictions have something called ‘be on the lookout,’ but it doesn’t circumvent the requirements of the Fourth Amendment to get a warrant issued.”

In the case of Furlow, the suit says he told “Officer Walsh” on Jan. 25 that he did not want to speak with police about an allegation against him for domestic assault.

Sometime later, Walsh issued a “wanted” for Furlow, according to the suit, which says Furlow’s accuser on Jan. 26 retracted her statement to police. Then on Jan. 28, Furlow was stopped by St. Louis County police while driving on Goodfellow Boulevard in Jennings, the suit says.

Furlow admitted his license was suspended, but police took him into custody solely because of the “wanted,” according to the suit.

Officers took Furlow to the Jennings Police Station, at 5445 Jennings Station Road, then transported him to the St. Louis County Justice Center, according to the suit. According to the lawsuit, Furlow told police officers who attempted to question him that he did not want to talk, and Walsh didn’t personally attempt to question Furlow while he was held.

Furlow was held for 24 hours, the suit says, despite Furlow’s counsel notifying police that Furlow was being held in the absence of probable cause. No charges have been filed against Furlow.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Harvey said ArchCity would also seek an injunction and declaratory relief preventing St. Louis County from using the “wanteds” system.

Separately, ArchCity on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit in St. Louis against the city of Pine Lawn and its former police lieutenant, Steven Blakeney, who was convicted in January of conspiring to falsely arrest a mayoral candidate.

The second suit focuses on allegations that Blakeney drugged two women at a St. Charles establishment and took them to his home in Oakville. The women did not remember how they got there or what happened, according to the suit.

“Pine Lawn knew about the many complaints against Defendant Blakeney and not only failed to take corrective actions but further enabled Defendant Blakeney in his nefarious travels by promoting him to Corporal, Sergeant and, ultimately, Lieutenant,” the lawsuit states. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the two women, Lisa Schweppe and Jillian Zurmuehlen. Pine Lawn’s attorney, Donnell Smith, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An attorney for Blakeney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Any judgments against Pine Lawn could badly hurt the city of about 3,400; it got 62 percent of its fiscal 2014 revenue from fines.

Legislation that took effect this year limits general operating revenue from traffic fines to 12.5 percent in St. Louis County, while the General Assembly is considering capping revenue from ordinance violations. Many north St. Louis County municipalities are challenging the legality of Senate Bill 5, the legislation that capped traffic fines.