The NYPD is Failing Victims of Rape, the DOJ Must Investigate
Hon. Merrick B. Garland
United States Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530–0001
Vanita Gupta, Esq.
Associate Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530–0001
Kristen Clarke, Esq.
Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530–0001
August 2, 2021
Dear Attorney General Garland, Associate Attorney General Gupta, and Assistant Attorney General Clarke,
I am a victim-survivor of rape and other crimes of gender-based violence in New York City. I write to request that the United States Department of Justice investigate the New York Police Department (NYPD) for discriminatory patterns and practices in policing.
In October 2017, I was kidnapped at gunpoint by my Lyft driver, taken across state lines, and along with two other men, I was gang raped. Two days later, I made the difficult decision to report my rape. I thought I was taking a step towards ending my trauma. I had no idea that in reporting my rape, I was simply inviting additional trauma.
The NYPD tells victims of sex crimes that they want us to report, that they’re ready with resources to bring us justice. But I write to you today as an example of what reporting your rape to the NYPD really looks like: callous disregard.
My body is evidence. I became the physical manifestation of a crime scene. After my rape kit examination, I was escorted out of the hospital by four uniformed NYPD officers, carrying my own rape kit because it had been left behind by police. Put into the back of a marked NYPD police car and driven to the Brooklyn Special Victims Unit, or SVU, precinct. During that initial visit my SVU detective, Maria Quinones, mandated that I go into the employee bathroom, pull my pants to my ankles, and have my best friend take photos of the bruises left on my body by my rapists. In that moment, it felt like violence was perpetrated against me not only by my rapists but by the City of New York.
After my attack, I suffered from post-traumatic stress and experienced severe trust issues, which were only exacerbated by the NYPD and the lack of regard my detective routinely showed me. She would not return my phone calls or emails, no matter how much I begged for more information, for any information. The few times when she did communicate with me, she was dishonest, including lying to me about gathering video evidence, working with local NJ park officials, and bringing the driver in for questioning in 2017. It became clear to me that the NYPD wasn’t interested in getting justice for me, and that nothing was going to change unless I changed it myself.
I had to become my own advocate, following up and speaking out. I had to demand to be heard by the higher-ups at the NYPD. I had to speak to the press to get my case taken seriously. I have filed a lawsuit against New York City for the NYPD’s discriminatory provision of investigative services to sexual assault survivors. I had to be my own support system and fight every day just to be heard by anyone at the NYPD. And I’m not alone.
My inbox is filled with survivors who have been failed by the NYPD. They come to me most often seeking support, but also for the institutional knowledge I have been forced to gain navigating the criminal legal system. I respond to each and every one, because I know what it’s like to be ignored, and I want these victim-survivors to know they are not alone. These are the stories we tell each other quietly via direct message. I don’t write to you today on their behalf because they don’t need me to, those victims have their own voice, and they are extraordinary. I tell you this because victims of sexual assault and gender-based violence are being retraumatized by the NYPD. The Department of Justice cannot be complicit in that retraumatization.
It should never be on the backs of victims to have to fight to be believed and supported within a system supposedly designed for victims of sexual violence, and certainly not one that the NYPD touts is “victim-centric.” Our job is not to fight to hold the NYPD accountable; our job is to heal.
The NYPD has stolen that from me.
Even now, almost four years after my assault, I’m still unable to start the job of healing because the NYPD never did their job.
I did what I was supposed to do: I reported. I showed up every time the NYPD asked me to — whenever they asked me to be somewhere, I was there, on the phone, in person I was available to them day and night, no matter how difficult the request. I have been cooperative in reliving my trauma, sharing my pain, and doing whatever it takes to help investigate the crime perpetrated against me. And all the while, they couldn’t even be bothered to answer a simple email or phone call. They ignored me, belittled me, and dismissed me. The NYPD made a mockery of me, of my case, and of the city I love.
Why are victims and survivors of gender-based violence so unimportant to the NYPD? Why can’t they take the time to invest in us? I have no compassion for a system that throws away victims and survivors who come to them seeking support, guidance, and justice. I will not be grateful to an institution that has harmed me and is still actively perpetuating harm against survivors. I refuse to carry shame because it is not mine to carry. That belongs to the NYPD, and to the Department of Justice if you do nothing and refuse to investigate. You cannot fix or change what happened to me, but you have an opportunity to fix and change what happens to someone else.
I am not alone in submitting a letter to you, and I hope you see the urgency and need for an investigation. One victim is too many. Do not hear our stories and turn your backs on us the way the NYPD has.
I am ready to cooperate with a Justice Department investigation. I am ready to speak with investigators about my experiences. I hope the Justice Department is as ready to seek justice for victims and survivors of rape and other gender-based violence. Discriminatory policing in New York City must stop.
I deserve better. Survivors and victims deserve better. New Yorkers deserve better. And I will not stop fighting until we get what we deserve.
Sincerely,
Alison Turkos
