After a Pasadena judge, who spent 35 years on the federal appeals bench, stepped down in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, people are wondering: why aren’t police officers resigning over sexual harassment and assault claims?
After all, the problem of sexual police misconduct is not unheard of in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California.
Following accusations of inappropriate behavior and touching at least 15 women, Judge Alex Kozinski retired after initially planning to fight the charges.
Judge Kozinski’s retirement was highly publicized all across the U.S., which has seen dozens of powerful men in politics, journalism, and entertainment shared and ostracized following sexual harassment and abuse allegations in the past nearly three months.
But why is the media keeping silent about prevalent cases of rape and sexual assault by police?
How common is sexual police misconduct
There are literally only a handful of people who are collecting data on sexual police misconduct due to the lack of data available to the public, police departments not disclosing information about sexual violence by police, and the difficulties associated with researching such information.
However, our police misconduct attorneys here at JML Law, a Los Angeles-based law firm that helps victims of all forms of police misconduct seek justice against police officers and law enforcement officials, have found some very disturbing sexual police misconduct statistics:
- Sexual violence by police is the second most common form of police misconduct in the U.S., after excessive force.
- A police officer is caught in an act of sexual misconduct every five days in the U.S. – not to mention all those who get away with sexual assault and are never caught red-handed.
Reporting sexual misconduct to police is not an option
Although the media frequently talks about how only a small portion of all sexual misconduct incidents are reported to law enforcement, it fails to talk about the fact that predators, harassers, abusers, and attackers are also police officers.
Fact: an estimated two-thirds of all sexual assaults that occur in the U.S. are never reported to the police.
In September, two NYPD detectives in their 30s allegedly raped an 18-year-old girl, who was pulled over and then handcuffed after the officers reportedly found drugs in her car. The officers allegedly took turns raping her in the back of their police van.
Obviously, for survivors of sexual assault whose attackers are police officers, reporting sexual misconduct to law enforcement is not even an option. That’s why so many survivors seek legal representation.
Without a Los Angeles police misconduct attorney, it may be quite frightening to report sexual assault by police officers or law enforcement officials.
In fact, not only female civilians are being sexually harassed and assaulted by the police, but also female police officers. In June, a Los Angeles police officer was arrested after accusations of having an unlawful sexual relationship with a 15-year-old cadet.
How to report police sexual misconduct
Even though sexual harassment, abuse, and rape by police officers are quite prevalent across Los Angeles and in other cities of California, it remains underreported and not highlighted enough in the media even at the time of the #MeToo movement.
Overlooking sexual police misconduct is a huge mistake, as the more transparent is the police, the more likely women are to report sexual misconduct on the part of police officers, politicians, judges, and civilians.
Los Angeles and other cities across California have yet to come up with policies that would prevent women from being sexually harassed and assaulted by police officers. But it could take years, if not decades.
If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted by a police officer or law enforcement official, seek the legal help of a Los Angeles police misconduct attorney immediately to figure out your best course of action.
Call JML Law at 818-610-8800 or contact us to get a free initial consultation. Our lawyers respect your right to confidentiality.
