Law and Disorder

"The abuse of women and girls is the most pervasive and unaddressed human rights violation on this Earth."                  

-Jimmy Carter

Warning: The following article contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence.

I would give this article a musical theme, but the issue is so vile it doesn't deserve one. we're in the #MeToo era in our society. Hollywood powerful types are being called out for predatory behavior. And that is good. We need to have that conversation. It can make a difference. 

I have a certain list for bad cops too: for either killing unarmed civilians, or rape. The first one has been heavily debated on social media with comments like,

Ayanna Cruver tells her story tearfully.

"you should always obey a police officer... he must have done something to get shot... Or the video doesn't tell the whole story." Good police deserve our respect and support.  But the shocking reality is, like the weeds among the wheat, there are bad cops among the good ones who do the one thing which they should be protecting people from. It can feel like a game of Russian roulette for a person to get pulled over in today's climate. You never know what could happen or if you will meet a good cop or bad cop. Ayanna Cruver was pulled over by a policeman. Her story had a good conclusion. But she felt the fear and horror that some feel when the police pulls a woman, or a person of color over these days. (Watch her video on YouTube) If her words or story causes feelings of empathy then you understand this issue better than most.

The latest scenario plays out like the Daniel Hotzclaw case. Some of you may remember the Oklahoma City cop who was brought to justice after sexually assaulting 13 African American women in 2015. I was hoping we would having seen the last of that sort of betrayal by some of our men in blue, but not so.
Two detectives, Edward Martins and Richard Hall, assigned to patrol the Coney Island neighborhood as part of an anti-drug unit, Brooklyn South Narcotics, broke off from the rest of their team and stopped 18-year-old Anna Chambers and two of her friends, both men, driving an Infinity coupe in Calvert Vaux Park.  As one of the detectives shined his flashlight through the window and saw the young woman adjusting her bra the other one asked if she was hiding something, Anna told him she was simply adjusting her nipple piercing.  The detectives asked her to prove it, and the young woman complied by lifting up her top, exposing her breasts.

Trolling Cops handcuff suspect with false motives

Like Daniel Hotzclaw, these 2 cops were trolling for vulnerable women who may have run afoul of the law before.  So when they came across a small amount of grass and other pills, they didn't call for back up, or even arrest the male passengers. They simply removed the Chambers, put cuffs on her and drove away. Martins called the woman’s friends who were left behind telling them not to follow them. The number was blocked keeping them from being located. According to the prosecutor for this case, Frank DeGaetano:

It was then that Detective Martins sat down next to the woman and said that he and his partner were “freaks,” asking her what she wanted to do to avoid being arrested, Mr. DeGaetano said. After tightening the handcuffs, Detective Martins pulled out his penis and forced the woman to perform oral sex on him, Mr. DeGaetano said. Then he turned her around, pulled her pants down and raped her, Mr. DeGaetano added, as Detective Hall watched through the rearview mirror and the young woman cried and pleaded with Detective Martins to stop. -NY Times October 30, 2017

Anna Chambers

This was followed by the men driving to a quiet location, switching places, Hall then sexually assaulted Miss Chambers. Apparently the detectives drove her a few blocks away from the precinct where she called her friends. The victim told her male friends of the attack, and they took her to a hospital, where a rape kit was done, and the DNA evidence proved positive for sexual activity.
However admitting to the crime must have been beneath both Martin and Hall's pay grade. They both said the sex was consensual. The idea that two of New York's Finest' best defense for this heinous act was to call it "consensual" was not only unprofessional, but seriously pathetic.
New York City Councilman Mark Treyger is determine to close an arguable loophole in the law. He says whatever happened in the van should be illegal and that a person in police custody cannot give consent.

"There is no such thing as consensual sex when someone else is in police custody. That is rape," NYC Councilman Mark Treyger.- NBC4 New York

Currently both men's lawyers are trying to defend them on the grounds that Miss Chambers trapped them both into sex, and then she was attempting to get some sort of possible payout. The defense is attempting to paint this young woman as being a questionable witness who was apprehended with drugs on her. However no formal charges were filed against Chambers.
Like any horrific act, the victim is still trying to deal with the aftermath of it all. According to  another article, in People:

Her attorney, Michael David, tells PEOPLE “She feels helpless and depressed, and she stays in a room all day,” David tells PEOPLE. “She was planning to go to college next semester, but she won’t be doing that anymore. Two monsters with badges and guns drove off with her in a small minivan and raped her while on duty.”- People/Crime People.com October 30, 2017

Miller and Hall arraigned with no blue wall support for them- NY Times

Okay, I get it. We no longer live in the day and age of Joe Friday, or Reed and McCoy the polite TV cops who tipped their hats, and said,"Just the facts ma'am." Some seem to like their detectives, a little more sexy, with a few vices, and edgier these days. But policemen are still thought of as exceptional men and women in the public's eye. What they should represent is honesty, respect for those they serve, and doing the right thing even when no one is looking. The question in many people's minds no doubt is: how do you trust the people who carry a badge, and are suppose to represent the finest ideas in a society when they give in to the darkest perversions and deepest of human betrayals, just because they have power over us? To some that may sound like hyperbole, but we've seen far too many acts of police misconduct to write this off as just another isolated incident.
Anna Chambers was brave enough to undergo an embarrassing Rape kit probe, and report her rape to the police, thus coming back with a 50-count indictment from the DA.
Typically, when officers are charged with crimes, their colleagues come to court in a sea of blue uniforms to support them. But on Monday, October 30, not one officer appeared in court with Detectives Martins and Hall. Hopefully that will be an omen in the victim's favor.

Special Thanks to:

Anna Chambers @annaaachambers for allowing me to share her story. Give her a word of encourament on Twitter.

Previous Issue

Truth and Justice, ...the Deplorable Way

It's Fox News versus  Superman! No really. Fox editorializes the dangers  of children reading comics where a super hero prevents immigrants from being slaughtered by an American patriot.

On My Vlog Channel 

Check out the first YouTube video on Audrie And Daisy. The only thing as bad as sexual assault, is when others side with the perpetrators.

Thank you all for your support.