Jobs for the boys
Imagine my surprise: another report on how indifferent police departments are to misogyny in the ranks.
A former police officer says she has lost all faith in Police Scotland’s capacity to tackle bullying and misogyny within its ranks, as an ex-colleague awaits sentence for sexually assaulting her more than four years after she initially made a complaint.
Gemma MacRae says she was targeted by a “boys’ club” of colleagues at Forres police station, in Moray, after she accused her ex-partner, also a police officer, of domestic abuse, and that as the intimidation grew worse her superiors “did nothing to protect me”.
Boys stick together.
MacRae told Elgin sheriff court that Scott Gallop, who was allowed to continue working after the initial complaint was lodged in February 2018 until he retired from the force at the end of that year, had touched her inappropriately on her bottom and waist on a number of occasions, as well as sending her sexually explicit text messages.
MacRae, who says she endured extensive bullying from other colleagues, is taking the force to an employment tribunal, which was paused while the criminal case was heard.
During one incident, MacRae says, colleagues (Gallop was not involved) drove her to an isolated forest late at night on the pretext of attending an incident. She was ordered out of the van, which drove off at speed, leaving her alone in the dark.
“I remember it was pitch black, and I was shocked and scared. I thought: I can’t come into work on a daily basis not knowing whether I’ll be safe. I stood there in complete despair for my life. Those male officers did this to me knowing what I had reported about my former partner.”
They returned after half an hour. That must have been a pleasant drive back for her.
I hope he gets a decent sentence, not a slap on the wrist. As someone who experienced abuse after reporting an incident (not police, but the boys still stuck together, and at least some of the women with them), I can empathize. I ended up pushed out of my job…that seems to often be the case.
Sometimes I suspect it’s not so much about sexual issues, but more about hoping the women will quit and the office will just be men again. Of course, the sexual issues and the humiliation/degradation they put the women through is also fun, and a bonus for them. They don’t think about what it does to the women because they don’t care – or because that’s their intent all along.
The Telegraph reports on a damning reason for the rampant crime and sexism within the British police forces: They hire anyone, ignoring their criminal past. Pimps and sex offenders join police forces thanks to widespread vetting failures
There’s a paywall on this but I’m sure there’s a way to read it on a sneaky internet.
They blame it on diversity, but I think that it’s also a matter of meetng demand to hire cops when politicians promise to “make the streets safer.” Only it really doesn’t, does it?
A Clockwork Orange gets real