Study Finds US Cops Charged in 400 Rapes Over 9 Years

A disturbing study out of Bowling Green State University has found that US police officers were charged in hundreds of rapes over the course of less than a decade. Per CNN, researchers behind the findings concluded that cops were charged in 405 forcible rapes in the nine years between 2005 and 2013. In order to compile their list, which includes other charges, researchers say they took to crowdsourcing because there is no comprehensive database that exists to document crimes committed by officers.

As WVLT notes, study authors say the nature of their information gathering means the number could be higher. Experts also say victims of crimes perpetrated by police are frequently reluctant to come forward. The BSU study found that even more police officers were accused of crimes classified as forcible fondling, reporting 636 instances of such charges. (In just the last week, one Maryland officer was stripped of his badge after he was charged with the rape of an undocumented immigrant during a traffic stop.)