Police Sexual Misconduct
The victims of these abuses of authority often are vulnerable women — street prostitutes, drug addicts, juvenile runaways, drunk drivers, victims of domestic violence, and traffic violators. In nearly all of the reported cases the officers and firefighters are male. In most cases, particularly with police officers, they are on duty either when the sexual impropriety occurs or when the initial contact is made. They are using their official positions to exercise their authority to demand, entice, coerce, and force themselves upon these victims.
Additional Resources
Public Agency Training Council:
Journal Articles:
Civil liability for sexual assault and harassment by officers (2008) AELE Monthly Law Journal, 2, February - Driving While Female: A National Problem in Police Misconduct, A Special Report by the Police Professionalism Institute (2002) Walker & Irlbeck: Police Professionalism Initiative, Univ Nebraska at Omaha
- Media accounts of police sexual violence: Rotten apples or state-supported violence? (2002) McGurrin & Kappeler: In Policing and Misconduct (121-142); Prentice Hall
- Notes on a scandal: The official enquiry into deviance and corruption in New Zealand police (2009) Rowe: Australian & New Zealand J Criminology, 42(1): 123-138
- Police sexual abuse of teenage girls: A 2003 update on “Driving while female (2003) Walker & Irlbeck: Police Professionalism Initiative, Univ of Nebraska at Omaha
- Police sexual misconduct: Officers' perceptions of its extent and causality (2003) Maher: Crim Justice Review, 28: 355
- Police sexual violence and rape myths: Civil liability under Section 1983 (2001) Eschholz & Vaughn: J Criminal Justice, 29: 389-405
- Police sexual violence: Civil liability under state tort law (1999) Vaughn: Crime & Delinquency, 45: 334-357
- Sexual Harassment in Organizational Context (2008) Chamberlain, Crowley, et al.: Work & Occupations, 35: 262
- To serve and pursue: Exploring police sexual violence against women (1995) Kraska & Kappeler: Justice Quarterly, 12: 85-111
- Violence in indoor and outdoor prostitution venues (2004) Raphael & Shapiro: Violence Against Women, 10: 126
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