Workplace violence and sexual harassment is a reality in most cities across America as well as law enforcement agencies, and it is increasing in the 21st century. (Lonsway et al., 2013) completed a study examining incidents, impacts, and the perceptions of sexual harassment within the law enforcement agencies using mixed method approaches and two sources of data. In the first study, they gathered data from 679 male and female law enforcement agents, and in the second study, they used 531 female police officers using a survey inquiring about their professional experiences. Most of the females gave information that could be interpreted as sexually harassing, and only a few were reported. However, they retaliated with negative outcomes on both of their personal and professional lives. Surprisingly, they did not view this as a negative situation.
There have been several sexual offenses that implicate law enforcement officers that were noted by the Office on Violence Against Women of the U.S. Department of Justice which was funded by the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) to review problems of sexual offenses and misconduct in law enforcement agencies. The ICP was assigned to develop ways to assist the leaders of law enforcement officers in investigating and preventing incidents (Police, 2011).The IACP is a leadership organization that has a history of working with difficult situations in law enforcement including civil rights, racial profiling, immigration, and the use of force (IACP, 2011).
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The IACP began working on addressing sexual offenses and sexual misconduct that was committed by officers with the goal of finding guidelines to assist these professionals to prevent the abuse of using their power. The organization implemented a Sexual Assault Investigative Guidelines, a Model Policy on Sexual Assault, and a roll call training video on how to prepare a sexual assault case for effective prosecution (IACP). The group built a working group to examine sexual offenses committed by law enforcement officers. This working group drafted a guide to assist executives following an outside review by victims and criminal justice professionals (IACP). This group included some law enforcement leaders attending a 2007 roundtable. “The leaders decided they must establish zero-tolerance policies to address and prevent sexual misconduct and reinforce the expectation of integrity through meaningful training and effective supervision (IACP)”.
In the 1994 journal article by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, it states that the law requires guidelines to be followed by city police departments, county sheriff departments, district police agencies, and university police departments. These guidelines were established because of the increasing sexual harassment incidents in the workplace in the state of California. The guidelines define sexual harassment to include unwelcomed or offensive behavior that creates intimidation, hostility, or an offensive work environment (America). The guidelines also include training on learning goals, the appropriate responses, and the complaint process as well as remedies for California (America). It gives a summary of sexual harassment cases and an example of a sexual harassment policy.
Episodes of violence can result in psychological trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders in the victims of sexual harassment. Most of the incidents occur in corporations, police and correction departments, schools and colleges, and healthcare locations (Flannery, 1996).
- America, C. C. (1994). Sexual harrassment in the workplace guidelines and curriculum. NCJRS, 1-91. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/
- Flannery, J. R. (1996). Violence in the workplace, 1970-1995: A review of the literature. Science Direct, 57-68. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/
- Lonsway, K. P. (2013, June). Sexual harassment in law enforcement: Incident, impact, and perception. Police Quarterly, 16(2), 177-210. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.ncjrs.gov
- Police, I. A. (2011, June). Addressing Sexual Offenses and misconduct by law enforcement: Executive Guide. International Association of chiefs of police, 1-15. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.theiacp.org
