![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.change.org\/photos\/wordpress_copies\/criminaljustice\/2009\/11\/pennsylvania_state_police_suv.jpg\" "\\"pennsylvania_state_police_suv\\"")
Andrea Young was a 13-year veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police when she sat for the state\u2019s promotion exam. She scored sixth out of 2,000 test-takers. But she was skipped for the promotion, and she argues in a new lawsuit that the snub was just one facet of the consistent harassment she suffered as a female officer on the force.<\/p>\n
Just 4% of state cops in Pennsylvania are women, and Young said she endured jokes about her sex life and even received a photo of one officer\u2019s penis. Other officers admitted to her they were cheating on the test, but then accused her of cheating. She says she wasn\u2019t only targeted because she\u2019s a woman, but because she was a speaking up about the conditions under which she worked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another suit against the Pennsylvania agency alleges that an illegal background check was run on a civilian by a jealous ex-boyfriend in the agency. An attorney for the civilian plaintiff, Jerry Grossnickle, told the Philadelphia Daily News: \u201cThere\u2019s a buddy system that pervades the state police, a system in which criminal laws are broken to protect the clique.”<\/p>\n
This culture isn\u2019t unique to the Pennsylvania State Police — it’s pervasive throughout law enforcement. Gender discrimination needs to be addressed head-on before our law enforcement agencies can even begin to talk about equality. Aggressive hiring should aim to balance the gender gap — a force with 4% women in 2009 is simply unacceptable. Female officers deserve to work in a welcoming and safe environment, and we can\u2019t trust a boys\u2019 club that harasses female officers to treat female crime victims or defendants with respect.<\/p>\n
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