7 Comments   

Okay, you're wasted. So you do the "safe" thing and hop in a cab. Maybe a police officer escorts you home. You did the right thing, right? Yes -- unless the people you're trusting to help you abuse their power.

New reports are surfacing about an incident last December, in which a cab driver called 911 so cops could help him get an intoxicated female passenger up to her fifth-floor apartment in New York.

The cops later returned to the woman's apartment and, allegedly, one cop raped her while his partner watched. Reports say the partner originally claimed it was consensual sex ... even though the woman was falling-down drunk. (He's since admitted the partner raped her.)

According to just-released reports, a surveillance camera at a nearby bar captured the officers' initial return to her building around 2 a.m. (on the heels of another resident). Though the officers apparently noticed (and tried to avoid) the cameras, they returned again with a key just before 3 a.m. and stayed for 34 minutes.

Click here to read more.



Bar owner Heather Millstone made copies of the surveillance video so that the victim could turn them over to her lawyer and the District Attorney's office. Both cops were stripped of their guns and badges and put on modified duty while the Internal Affairs Bureau investigates.

Power Goes Sour
Lemondrop talked to Joanne Smith, founder of Girls for Gender Equity, about police violence. "Things like this have been happening for years, even before the Tawana Brawley incident," says Smith, who founded the Brooklyn organization after witnessing the spectrum of violence against women. "But this is an abuse of power. These men are in a position where they have power over men and women. Women are many times the victims, unfortunately, and at the mercy of cops. In this situation, she was in her home."

Speaking Up
Though Smith hears tales of abuse almost every day from girls as young as 12, she is glad that there is evidence and the East Village woman is speaking out, something that not every rape survivor is brave enough to do. "You always wonder in the back of your mind, Will there be repercussions?" she explains. "We advise our girls to tell anyone who will listen."

Smith hopes that the woman will align herself with coalitions or other organizations that raise awareness about sexual violence. "She doesn't have to relive the abuse," she says. "These kinds of organizations will support the case and bring media attention to this issue."

She adds, "It's going to take other police officers and law enforcement agents, who work and live with integrity and morals, to speak up and out against their fellow officers who rape and abuse women."

Weekend Warriors
One option for NYC women out late on a Saturday night is a free service called RightRides. The program began in the summer of 2004 as the direct result of assaults targeting women who were walking home late at night. As Oraia Reid, co-founder of RightRides, says, "Walking home from public transportation or taking a cab is not always safe."

RightRides uses vehicles donated by ZipCar and driven by volunteers. So far they have driven nearly 2,000 women home. The service is available from midnight to 3 a.m. on Sunday mornings, but Reid says they hope to expand the hours and add service in other cities.

What to Do If It's You (or Your Friend)
"Women have the right to go out and be safe in public late at night," says Reid. "It's so important that you keep safe and have a buddy system. Make sure that you look out for your friend." Is it a pain to see her home if she's sloppy drunk? Sure -- but she'll get your back next time.