On Veteran's Day 2005 I was working as the Administrative Lieutenant in Patrol

Operations when I was approached by a Watch Commander regarding a disturbing phone call

received by the Desk Sergeant. The caller was the supervisor at an electrical assembly plant in

the City of Anaheim. According to the caller a Spanish speaking female employee had told her

and others of having been accosted by an Anaheim Police officer and sexually assaulted. Due to

the seriousness of the complaint we immediately made arrangements to meet with the

complainant off site. The complainant was a forty something year old female with only limited

English speaking skills and admittedly an unlicensed illegal alien. Over the next hour she

described being pulled over by an officer, threatened with deportation, arrest and impound of her

vehicle. An investigation was immediately launched and within days the officer was arrested and

charged with sexual assault under color of authority. The victim in later press interviews related

much of the details regarding the encounter with the officer. The press conferences for the

interviews were facilitated by a civil rights attorney in preparation for the filing if lawsuits and

claims against the city.

At the time of the incident the Anaheim Police department was proactive in dealing with

the release of information and making strong statements regarding the officers criminal behavior.

At the conclusion of the initial investigation and the subsequent media onslaught I was left with

the disturbing question of how prevalent was the issue of police officers engaging in criminal

sexual misconduct. In reviewing the media coverage of these types of incidents there is a

common pattern of police department action and response. Once discovered law enforcement

agencies react swiftly and judiciously. The behavior is described as aberrant and not reflective of

the department or the profession of policing. In the course of obtaining information it becomes

apparent that the behavior while aberrant is by no means rare. A Proquest search of news article
related to the arrest of officer for criminal sexual misconduct returns dozens of case from

throughout the country. Using a Google web search with the terms "officer arrested" sexual

assault California returns recent cases from Bakersfield, Maricopa , Los Angeles, Fremont, and

Garden Grove. The incidents were those reported by the media after the arrests.

Just a cursory investigation into the incidents of police criminal sexual behavior

demonstrates that it is in fact not a true aberration but a pattern of occurrence found throughout

the law enforcement profession. As such the research must be examined in order to determine the

extent of its existence and methods to mitigate its impact.

In the social contract established with American policing there is a strong need for trust.

The public abdicates their rights to be stopped detained and questioned in contacts with the

police in return the officers detain and act upon facts and probable cause before exercising these

rights. In the extreme the public has provided law enforcement the right to take lives if necessary

in course of their duties. This social contract relies heavily upon the trust the public places on the

individual officers. Violations of this trust, no matter how slight, impede the ability of law

enforcement to complete its mission. One would have to agree that any criminal misconduct by

police officers deeply affects the social contract. This is further exacerbated when the criminal

misconduct is sexual in nature. The public has long placed sex crimes in special categories of

criminal conduct. Specific laws such as Megan's Law and stiffer penalties for sex crimes have

been created as a direct reflection of a public value system that despises the sex offender. Even

the prison culture and the social outcasts in the prison system have special a special dislike for

sex offenders. When a police officer commits a criminal sex offense the entire policing system

is impacted to some extent or another.

 Literature Review

The research literature into the issue of criminal sexual conduct by police officers is

limited. On the one hand law enforcement agencies largely consider these incidents as rouge

behavior and not in need of further research. On the other there is no one database that captures

the occurrences of police officer criminal conduct. Researchers such as Kappeler have had to

rely heavily upon media reports of officer arrests and litigation cases. Others such as Maher and

Sapp rely on survey results measuring officers own observations, attitudes and perceptions.

Kappeler uses the term "Police Sexual Violence" (PSV) to describe his area of research

into law enforcement related sex crimes. This is a more definitive explanation than delving into

the whole area of police sexual misconduct. Kappeler uses a "continuum of police sexual

violence" in his research. Unobtrusive Behavior, Obtrusive Behavior and Criminal Behavior

Category Range of Behaviors Institutional or Operational Range of Legal

Cultural Support Justification Sanctions
Unobtrusive Viewing victims, Possible Institutional Crime control Civil
Behavior photographs, and and Cultural investigation,
sexually explicit examine evidence,
videos, invasions of review evidence for
privacy, secondary case preparation
victimization.
Obtrusive Behavior Custodial strip Possible Institutional Preservation of Civil or Criminal
searches, body and Cultural evidence, ensure
cavity searches, security, control
warrant-based contraband, law
searches, illegal enforcement,
detentions, hampers
deceptions to gain enforcement efforts,
sexual favors, necessary for covert
provision of services investigations
for sexual favors,
sexual harassment
Criminal Behavior Sexual harassment, Linked to None Civil to Criminal
sexual contact, institutionalized
sexual assault, rape police characteristics
 Kappeler would describe all of the categories on the scale as a form of PSV. Within the

category of criminal behavior would be such things and illegal detentions in order to come into

contact with females encountered in the field. At the extreme category is the crime of rape.

Citing cases from southern California and Houston, Kraska & Kappeler describe a pattern of

officers stalking their victims by means of car stops. The use of this police power to detain was

of special significance to the researcher as noted by the following quotation.

The real significance for this study is that these particular officers, as members of the

select group of person empowered to enforce the stat's laws and protect the citizens, exploited

their unique access to female citizens, and their power and authority as police, to engage in

sexually violent behavior.

Kraska & Kappeler also note the unique challenges the victims of PSV in reporting their

victimization. Oftentimes the victims of PSV operate at the extreme ends of society. In reviewing

some of the publicized cases one can quickly ascertain that many of the victims are prostitutes,

drug addicts or others engaging in what would be considered high risk behaviors.

In a study by Mckurrin and Kappeler they identified the offender characteristics based

upon reported media accounts and civil litigation. As one would tend to believe 98.8 percent of

offenders were male. The mean age was 36, 64% were municipal employees and 74 percent were

considered to be at the line officer rank. The mean years of service was 10.6 years and 53.5% of

the officers were accountable for 2 or more offenses.

Mckurrin and Kappeler make a strong case for the use of power and authority of a law

enforcement officer precluding the need for officers to use physical force in order to commit

their crimes.
 Maher in his research focuses strongly upon surveys to study the larger issue of Police

Sexual Misconduct (PSM). The difference being that much of PSM is not criminal in nature and

involves, while inappropriate, consensual sexual behavior. Maher postulates that the survey data

shows a strong cultural acceptance of the "rotten apple" theory. Where officer are largely

accepting that police deviance is isolated. This was direct contradiction to the survey data that

showed 36% of officers reported incidents of PSM. While not specifically addressing issues of

police criminal sexual misconduct Maher's research provides ample information about police

culture and worldview when it comes to sexual behavior.

Some interesting information coming out of Maher's research include 88% of the

respondents reported PSM occurring mostly at night. 92% of the respondents reported that PSM

occurred mostly at the patrol officer levels. The incidents of criminal offenses reported in

Maher's study were very low. Maher adds that the willingness to report criminal conduct in a

survey might be a reason for the reticence to report. It could also be that definitions of

consensual sexual contact may have higher parameters by those engaging in the behavior.

Conclusions

Currently there is not means to identify the scope and frequency of police criminal sexual

misconduct. There are no reliable reporting systems that would aid researchers and police

administrators in developing policies and procedures that could better prevent these incidents

from occurring in the first place. All of the authors in the studies reviewed say there needs to be

more research in this area. Maher specifically argues for the establishment of training and

policies addressing the issues related to police sexual misconduct. There is however reticence at

all levels to approach the issues of data collecting as noted by Maher's survey of police chiefs.
 It is incumbent upon police administrators and leadership to accept the fact that law

enforcement criminal sexual misconduct is not just an aberration but a integral issue in police

culture. Training for supervisors and administrators on the extent of the problem within the

profession should be included in management training. Policies and procedures that can help

prevent the occurrence of the PSV can only result when the problem is thoroughly studied and

analyzed. This can not occur until accurate data and research have been completed. there will

continue to be headlines involving some of the most serious breaches of the public trust.