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Conduct Unbecoming

One CHP officer used car inspections to hit on women. Another used police resources to run checks on women he was pursuing sexually.

One officer in Los Angeles used car inspections to hit on women. Three hundred miles away in the Bay Area, another woman says an officer used police resources to harass and stalk her.

The second episode of the On Our Watch podcast investigates these two cases of sexual misconduct by California Highway Patrol officers. While the officers were fired, the agency did not refer potential crimes to prosecutors. And the files show some women who came forward were met with suspicion, discouragement or what one woman saw as intimidation.

How do departments treat victims who come forward and deal with officers who cross the line? Why hasn’t the #MeToo movement reached policing?

Follow On Our Watch on SpotifyAppleNPR One or your favorite podcast app.  This podcast is produced as part of the California Reporting Project, a coalition of news organizations in California.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.org.

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