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Study Examines Police Sex Abuse

Targeting of Women Is Issue of Concern, Professors Say

By Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer
Originally published in The Washington Post, April 4, 2002

Police officers who sexually exploit women during traffic stops—as a Virginia state trooper is accused of doing—are part of a disturbing national phenomenon, according to the authors of a recent federally funded study of police misconduct.

Through a preliminary examination of reported incidents, the study by two University of Nebraska criminal justice professors concluded that local, state and federal authorities need to address the arrests of women targeted for traffic stops because of their sex.

Samuel Walker, co-author of the study, which was released last month by the Police Professionalism Initiative, said most of the incidents involve officers who abuse their authority by asserting control over women or manipulating them for personal satisfaction. Walker said the cases range from minor harassment to sex assaults and, in extremely rare cases, have even led to murder.

“I think we have enough evidence that it’s all across the country, in big departments and small departments,” Walker said, adding that the problem is under-reported.

“A lot of women are embarrassed, they are traumatized, and they don’t want to report it, the same way a lot of sex assaults aren’t reported to police,” he said.

This week, William A. “Buck” Carter, 42, a Virginia State Police trooper, was indicted and arrested in Prince William County on charges that he sought sex from a woman in exchange for dropping drunken-driving charges against her.

Prosecutors said it appears that Carter arrested a higher proportion of young women during his patrols than did his colleagues or county police officers.

According to an investigation by the state police internal affairs division, women accounted for more than 50 percent of Carter’s drunken-driving arrests. Authorities said yesterday that women account for less than 20 percent of drunken-driving arrests in Prince William County as a whole.

“I think it’s pretty clear that he was apprehending a far greater percentage of females than the other police officers,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert, who is prosecuting Carter on charges of bribery. “This type of selection is problematic.”

Carter has been charged with soliciting sex in one case. But sources close to the probe said yesterday that investigators are looking into whether he may have targeted young, attractive women, in some cases following them to make legitimate arrests.

Carter, an 18-year veteran with the state police, turned himself in Tuesday and was released. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and could lose the real estate license that friends say has accounted for much of his income.

Carter declined to comment yesterday when reached through friends.

Col. W. Gerald Massengill, superintendent of the state police, said he is considering an internal inquiry to find troopers who might have known of Carter’s alleged misconduct but did not report it.

“I think the public recognizes that we have human beings enforcing the law,” Massengill said yesterday. “Being human beings, you’re going to invariably have situations that go into areas that no one is proud of. It has happened in the past, and I’d like to say that it won’t happen in the future, but I’m sure it will. We’re sending strong signals that it can’t be tolerated.”

According to Walker, whose study focused on more than 100 cases reported across the country and in the media during the last six years, many tainted traffic stops are for drunken-driving violations. In those situations, he said, officers have the upper hand, and motorists’ credibility is already low because they have broken the law.

“In many cases the drivers have been drinking and they’re feeling compromised,” Walker said. “Some officers understand that they’re dealing with vulnerable people, and they take advantage of it.”

Prince William Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Richard A. Conway said most officers play by the rules.

“If you have a situation like we did here, then it is improper, it is criminal, and it is a problem,” Conway said. “There is a very, very, small percentage of law enforcement officers engaged in something like that.”