Abuse of Power for Sexual Gain by the Police
Why doesn't the system prioritise the victim's experience?
When a police officer commits a sexual crime against a woman; inherently there is an abuse of power for sexual gain. It is a given. Whether they are on or off duty; the fact that they are the people that are meant to protect us and they are subverting that duty to hurt us has to be a hugely aggravating factor of the crime. Would police officers be deterrred from abuing, stalking, raping and killing us if there was automatically additional years added to any sentence when an officer is the perpetrator? They do not have to be in uniform for the power of their position to be dangled over our heads.
This was made explicitly clear by David Carrick who used his position to lure women and then continually used it to keep them as his victims. He admitted 85 sexual offences over two decades on the force and acted with impunity whilst on the same unit as Wayne Couzens.
“Violence against women and girls perpetrated by a police officer, whether on-duty or off-duty will always have a high degree of culpability, with the likely outcome being severe.” This is from “updated” NPCC guidance last year (one has to wonder what it said prior to Couzens). This is not good enough. Nothing mandatory, nothing automatic. This is a wooly way of not saying all that much.
Apparently ‘severe’ is a 16 week non custodial sentence for stalking a woman whilst on duty.
If a civillian asaults a police officer, there are understandably increased consequences. The same should be true if a police officer illegally assaults a civillian, especially when it is abuse of power for sexual gain.
This week a Met Police officer, PC Jonathan Simon, was sentenced for stalking a woman he met on duty. From the BBC, “Sparing Simon an immediate custodial sentence, the judge pointed to the effect custody would have on the officer's family.”
If officers were guaranteed to to have their names and pictures shared in the press when convicted, guaranteed to lose their pensions and guaranteed an extra, let’s say three to five years in prison– would they stop abusing the power they are entrusted with? What will it take to make them stop hurting us?
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