Historically, JDI has advocated for the safety of people held inside detention facilities, such as prisons, jails, juvenile facilities, and police lockups. But there are also countless people who are sexually abused by law enforcement officers in the community who may never enter a detention facility. When a person is stopped by a law enforcement officer — such as a city cop, state trooper, or Border Patrol agent — they are not free to leave. Even if a stop is illegal, the person may not know that they have the right to walk away, or it may not be safe for them to do so. JDI seeks to end the sexual abuse of all detained people, regardless of where the abuse occurs — whether inside a confinement facility, on the street during a stop by police, or in a patrol car.
Community organizers and activists recently have put a spotlight on police brutality, in the U.S. and abroad, and the disproportionate impact of this violence on communities of color and LGBT people. Yet relatively little attention has been paid to sexual abuse by law enforcement officials. JDI is seeking to bring this issue out of the shadows. Recognizing the transformative impact of federal research on our work to end prisoner rape, we are pressing the government to collect data on sexual abuse and harassment by law enforcement. We will also deepen our existing work with local police and sheriff’s departments, helping them adopt policies and practices to protect the people in their communities.
At the same time, we are gathering survivor stories, some of which are shared below. Their testimony will help shed light on this problem, and inform our work to end it.
In the summer of 2001, when I was just a teenager, a police officer sexually assaulted me outside my apartment complex in Virginia. As I was walking on the sidewalk with a friend, sometime after 11:00 pm, two white police officers stopped us. Then they frisked us. The officer who was frisking me grabbed my private part. I immediately complained, and he responded by grabbing me by my shirt from behind and choking me. He stopped only after the other police officer told him that somebody across the street was watching.
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It started with a call from a California police station. I was ordered to come in to talk to a detective. When I arrived, an officer put me in a room and told me that a man had made a complaint against me. The officer also told me that he would “get rid of it” if I granted him a “favor.” I said, “Okay,” and he let me go.
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One day in 1986, in the Louisiana town where I grew up, a police officer drove up beside me as I was walking home from my grandparents’ house. The officer asked me a series of questions. Then he asked me if I would like a ride home. He said I could sit in the front seat. I knew his entire family, and I had never been in a police car before, so I didn’t feel I was in any danger. At that time my perception of police officers was positive.
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I went out with a friend to the store to pick up diapers for my daughter, and as we were walking back to the shelter where we were staying, we got caught in the midst of a police drug raid. My friend and I were surrounded by a group of police officers who threw us against the wall and immediately began verbally assaulting us. A female officer was called to search us for drugs.
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When I was younger, I used to take walks at night. On several occasions, the same sheriff’s deputy would stop me — asking me friendly questions. But once he realized I was gay, he became threatening.
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My name is Jayde and I am a mixed race, Native American, lesbian, transwoman. My story sheds light on corrupt and predatory law enforcement officers, who are supposed to protect, not victimize. The incident started while I was walking into a Colorado park at night, in 2002.
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They were both narcotics detectives. They were both armed. It wasn’t clear if they were on duty or off. I had never met them before, but my boyfriend, a drug dealer, saw them all the time.
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