Worse Than The Disease: Law Enforcement Officers Committing Sexual Violence In The Line Of Duty

from the criminals-on-both-sides-of-the-line dept

Tue, Nov 26th 2013 11:50am — Tim Cushing

Maybe all these politicians and activists who want tough-on-crime leadership are looking at the wrong side of the thin blue line. The cure is worse than the disease, as the saying goes, and these officers seem to be going out of their way to prove that adage.

First up, following on the heels of the multiple rectal violations committed by a New Mexico doctor at the behest of police officers in search of drugs that just weren't there is this story, which features more New Mexico law enforcement members violating someone's lower regions -- again, in search of drugs.

Cops in New Mexico repeatedly sprayed a woman’s vagina with mace after she was arrested for drugs. They allegedly did this to “punish” her.

The woman, Marlene Tapia, was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center after her arrest. Next, officers stripped her to search for drugs. They made her bend over and then claimed she had a plastic bag containing drugs in her vagina.

Officers should have subsequently had medical staff remove the bag from Tapia — but they did not do this.

Instead, officers “punished” the woman by spraying her vagina with mace. They allegedly did this several times in a row.

To be clear, these were corrections officers at a detention center, not police officers. Tapia apparently actually had a baggie of drugs inserted in her vagina, but as is pointed out in the lawsuit, spraying her with mace wasn't going to dislodge it, and she wasn't offering the officers any resistance. As is also pointed out, corrections officers are supposed to refer anyone they suspect of hiding drugs to the medical center for examination. Obviously, they do things differently in New Mexico, especially if the "problem area" happens to be below the waist.

There is little doubt this incident actually occurred. According to the filing, the officer (Blanca Zapater) was both instructed to stop spraying mace on Tapia's genitals by her supervisor and was later punished for her actions. Tapia is now seeking damages and court fees for Zapater's clearly stupid actions.

This next case is much, much worse on every level, further underscoring the fact that those charged with enforcing laws often seem to be at least as dangerous as those who break them.

A 40-year-old police officer in San Antonio, Texas is facing charges of felony sexual assault after a 19-year-old woman accused him of handcuffing and raping her during a traffic stop over the weekend.

According to an arrested warrant obtained by the San Antonio Express-News, Officer Jackie Len Neal pulled over the teen, telling her that her car was reported stolen.

Even though the woman produced a sales slip for the vehicle, Neal insisted on patting her down. The woman told him she felt uncomfortable with the pat down and asked for a female officer, but he ignored her, the warrant said. The woman was allegedly groped, placed in handcuffs and then taken to the back of his patrol car.

Neal was accused of raping the woman and instructing her to keep it a secret.

Neal's dashboard cam and mike weren't working as his system was missing its hard drive. This fact Neal would have been aware of, according to his police chief, William McManus. The car's GPS system confirmed that Neal's patrol car was parked at this location for 18 minutes.

Neal's past is checkered with other abuse.

McManus confirmed that Neal had been suspended in September for dating an 18-year-old, who had joined the Police Explorer program in preparation for a law enforcement career. He had also been accused of sexual assault while on duty several years earlier, but the woman refused to cooperate with a police investigation and the charges were dropped.

This may not be the end of it either. McManus must suspect his officer is a habitual offender as he's made a call for other victims to come forward. The lack of criminal charges preceding this event likely kept McManus from unloading an officer he felt was problematic. That it culminated in an alleged rape before being corrected is an indictment of the system itself.

186436293 NM ABQ Sprayed Genitals (PDF)186436293 NM ABQ Sprayed Genitals (Text)

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Filed Under: abuse, law enforcement, police, sexual assault

22 Comments

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Deranged Poster (profile), 26 Nov 2013 @ 12:13pm

And some still wonder why more & more don't trust the police.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 12:35pm

Punishment and discipline
�Woman claims officer sprayed mace on genitals�, by Ryan Luby, KOB Eyewitness News 4, November 22, 2013
�.�.�. Instead, an officer �punished� the woman by spraying her vagina with mace. That officer, Blanca Zapater, allegedly did this several times in a row.�.�.�.

Staff at the Metropolitan Detention Center declined to comment on the case, but confirmed that the Zapater is still on staff after she was hired in November 2008.

According to the lawsuit, Zapater was disciplined for the situation involving Tapia.�.�.�.

Punishment and discipline.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 12:46pm

... Or they lie about the cops as much as the rest of us. Maybe there is a reason the victim wouldn't cooperate.
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Glen, 26 Nov 2013 @ 1:21pm

Re:
Maybe it could be like the first woman that had her vagina maced while the detention officers' superior is asking her not too.
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Geno0wl (profile), 26 Nov 2013 @ 2:04pm

Guess they run their in car video different than us
I work Tech support for a major metro department.
In our cars there keys to the bay that only the Admin Sgt has, and no way for officers to manually delete videos without admin credentials(which we give NOBODY outside of our staff).
We do that for the simple obvious reason, to curb abuse.
Now they could still turn off the system(and it can not be turned off while their lights are on). But at least it is one barrier of "proof".
The new system we are working on actually will have a built in "buffer" that automatically records everything(video only) even in "idle" mode as long as the car is on. It would automatically overwrite, but that days at least a day to happen.
We have/are putting in place items to curb abuse, shame more places don't take these obvious steps to do the same.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 2:17pm

Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
I work Tech support for a major metro department.

You should find an honest job.

Don't be a collaborator.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 2:20pm

Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
When you have to take steps like that to curb abuse you have a major problem with the police department that those steps will not solve. Their appear to be deep cultural problems with police departments where they consider the public the enemy.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 2:50pm

Atleast you can fight back vs others, unlike police where you would be "resisting". Its no wonder why people dont feel safe around them
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Rekrul, 26 Nov 2013 @ 3:47pm

Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
How do you guard against the cop putting something in front of the camera lens?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 4:28pm

What would happen if this suddenly equipment malfunctions where to be viewed as proof of bad intent and shift the trust to the accuser?
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Anonymous, 26 Nov 2013 @ 5:50pm

"What I'm sayin' what if people start shootin' 'em back?
Spit caps outta gats till the beast collapse...
And hear us all say 'Power to the people!' combined
Hold court in the streets till these pigs comply."
-Paris
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That One Guy (profile), 26 Nov 2013 @ 6:53pm

Re: Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
In this case at least they do seem to be in an honest job, in particular keeping the other members of the force honest via video evidence of their actions.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 6:55pm

Re: Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
The legal system is the best way for that which has proven problematic. Simply apply destruction of evidence rules and not only charge them for it but allow for an assumption that there was damning evidence - a.k.a. autoguilty.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 7:24pm

Did they use bare mace?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2013 @ 11:01pm

Re: Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
That's no different then just switch off the system, so 'But at least it is one barrier of "proof".'
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That One Guy (profile), 27 Nov 2013 @ 12:36am

Re: Re: Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
Oh would I love to see that charge brought up any time a cop steals a camera/phone, claiming it has 'evidence' on it, only to (maybe) return it later, without the damning video/pictures on it.
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PaulT (profile), 27 Nov 2013 @ 2:06am

Re:
"Maybe there is a reason the victim wouldn't cooperate."

If there's any truth to this allegation:

"Instead, officers �punished� the woman by spraying her vagina with mace."

... I don't give a crap if she was co-operating or not. There's no defensible justification for this.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Nov 2013 @ 2:56am

Re: Re: Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
they do seem to be in an honest job

The guy's paycheck is coming out of forfeiture money.

Stealing money is not honest.
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Geno0wl (profile), 27 Nov 2013 @ 6:10am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
uh no
my paycheck comes from the City payroll "pool", therefore I am paid directly by taxpayers.
And, at least from my perspective, the current environment here is actually rather healthy.
No fighting against filming by citizens, very strong IIS that has actually filed charges against three officers in the past couple years, and my biggest complaint about any particular officer is that they are lazy and not a bully or anything like that.

not to say there have never been problems, in fact the Department was in a heap load of problems over 10 years ago. But because of that the leaders changed and the culture shifted.
You are right you can never stop people who are truly willing to block the camera, or pull the cable, or whatever. But at least here that type of thing isn't taken lightly.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Nov 2013 @ 7:59am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Guess they run their in car video different than us
�When Did �To Serve & Protect� Become �To Seize & Profit?� �, by Jesse Lava and Sarah Solon, The Nation, October 29, 2013
� [I]t�s not just happening in Philadelphia; it�s happening nationwide to people�s houses, cars, cash and other property that cops seize and sell to make money for their departments.�

Money that cops generate from such seizures bankroll their departments, and sometimes even fund their own salaries. That gives police a strong incentive to abuse civil asset forfeiture laws, search people unconstitutionally, engage in racial profiling and over-enforce minor offenses, needlessly increasing people�s contact with the criminal justice system. The more they seize, the better off their departments are.�

Something is deeply wrong here. When incentives are this out of whack, abuse ensues�encouraging law enforcement to put profit above public safety.�

Get an honest job.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2013 @ 11:34am

About the girl who was arrested with drugs, i feel no sympathy or pity. She should have been shot on sight IMO.

But the officer who harassed the teen... He should be hanged publicly and his remains cut down and displayed in public to set an example as to what would happen if you do something like that.
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Stina, 27 Jan 2015 @ 3:15pm

Re: YUP
Yup you are an anonymous coward, you can't possibly mean what you said here.
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