On January 5, 2019, police pulled over Kali Coates in Louisville, Kentucky. But one of the officers clearly didn’t have driving safety in mind. Instead, he took the opportunity to sexually assault her!
During Officer Tyler Gelnett’s “search,” he reached into Coates’ underwear, using his fingers to grope her genitalia and backside. And according to her boyfriend, the creep was looking directly at him while doing it!
Eventually, another officer on the scene apologized to Coates, explaining that Gelnett was in training. "He had no idea what he was doing, I’ll be honest with you,” he said. Seriously?
But that wasn’t even Officer Gelnett’s last “mistake.” After letting Coates go, Gelnett faced misdemeanor charges only a year later – for stealing marijuana from suspects to give to his girlfriend.
84% of our interactions with police happen on the road. But no matter how much more training and funding police get, we’re still at risk. You shouldn’t have to “train” someone to NOT sexually assault people!
Coates finally won $50,000 in a settlement, but that’s just a band-aid on a larger problem.
When police commit sexual assault, they aren’t just individual cases but violence maintained by the entire system. Let’s fight for a world where this kind of injustice isn't enabled by a system that claims to protect us, but is designed to do otherwise.