I had heard about this story from a coworker, and this was the first I had really heard of this, even though it is a pretty big deal. While trying to look up more articles about this, I had some trouble trying to find recent articles that really covered everything. My same coworker (thankfully) sent me a link to a VICE News documentary that had a lot of really interesting information covering all of the details. The investigation has gone on for a number of years as women came forward, so I can't remember if I remember seeing the individual stories in the news, but when any new documentary about something major like this comes out, it usually receives a lot more coverage.
The documentary revealed a number of women telling their stories about how they were sexually assaulted by Louisville Police Officers. These officers would take advantage of their victims in a number of ways. They would send unsolicited pictures of their genitalia and promise women that they would "get them out of trouble" in exchange for sexual acts (Robinson 2022). Some would show up to a woman's house in uniform, either on or off duty, and rape them. Many women were scared to come out in fear of not being believed, thinking they would get in trouble, or knowing it would get covered up.
Upon investigations, the details of the lawsuits revealed that the LMPD knew about one of the officer's behaviors and did nothing to stop it. Many women felt that the reports that went unheard sent a message saying "We don't care if you're raped... he can do whatever he wants and we're not going to do anything about it "Richards 2022).
Although the investigations continued over a number of years, VICE putting together a documentary summarizing the sexual misconduct seems to go slightly unnoticed. The video on YouTube came out in May, which was also around the time of the gas shortage, when prices were skyrocketing. I think this news was really overshadowing a lot of other stories in the media.
The acts of these officers would scare anyone from telling their story. They are so unbelievable to think true. I am glad that this story was able to come to light, not only for the hopeful justice served to the officers but to also bring some peace to the victims.
ReplyDeleteWow. That is such a gross abuse of power by that police department. I wonder if adding a third party to review those reports would be beneficial. It is frustrating because that is the job of the department but sometimes corruption can over power truth and what is right. I am glad to see VICE and social media play the part that it did in shining a light on this issue.
ReplyDelete