What is going on in New Jersey?
With recent controversies involving police officers, many states have been shining more of a light on the actions of their boys in blue, but what New Jersey has been uncovering seems downright shocking.
Many of the events that have made news headlines have been tragic, causing uproars on either side of the blue line, but two New Jersey cops have been accused of something that just makes your skin crawl.
Not one, but two different officers, in completely unrelated investigations, have been charged with pulling women over for their phone numbers.
What creeps!
The first arrest happened earlier this year when 37-year-old Marquice Prather was charged with tampering records. The veteran cop had been lying about the genders of the people he tickets, sabatoguing police recording equipment and falsifying case reports.
The department began investigating Prather after several women came forward alleging that they had been unjustly pulled over, and then asked for their contact information. Prather had promised to tear up the ticket if they agreed to go on a date.
After further investigation the department found more women who had been ticketed and forced to pay after refusing to go out with the officer.
He's been suspended without pay while he awaits trial.
Shockingly, pulling over women for a date isn't actually a crime, which is why the only thing they can charge Prather with is record tampering.
He's not the only one! Read more to see another creepy cop case!
Prather is bad, but one bad apple doesn't spoil the bunch right?
Okay, but how about two?
Eric Richardson, a 31-year-old New Jersey state trooper, has also been charged with records tampering after a separate investigation found his actions startlingly similar to Prather's. There's no evidence that the two knew each other, or coordinated in any way. They're both just creeps.
Richardson is arguably worse because no only did he pull over a woman he wanted to date, he threatened to arrest her if she didn't say yes.
His department is claiming that he harassed women from August 2016 until January of 2017 by attempting to start relationships with those he pulled over. In at least one case he pulled over a woman who had changed her number after giving it to the trooper.
Like Prather, Richardson is accused of lying about the genders of those he pulled over, and falsifying police reports. He's been suspended without pay until his trial.
Last year Richardson had been acknowledged by the National Anti-Bullying organization for his volunteer work at a Camden high school, making the charges sadly ironic.