#CopsToo: When Police Officers Use Sexual Assault to Terrorize Vulnerable Communities

According to the Cato Institute, more than 9 percent of reports of police misconduct in 2010 involved sexual abuse, making it the second-most-reported form of misconduct after the use of excessive force. Comparing that data with FBI crime statistics indicates that “sexual assault rates are significantly higher for police when compared to the general population.”

The evidence is compelling; still, sexual abuse committed by cops is routinely neglected in the broader dialogue regarding police brutality. In 2013 the Department of Public Safety was forced to pay $185,000 to two women who alleged that troopers had conducted cavity searches by the roadside, illuminated by patrol car headlights, in full view of passing traffic.