The recent arrest and prosecution of CHP officer Sean Harrington for illegally searching a woman’s phone and downloading nude pictures of her, sadly, didn’t shock me. Law enforcement officers are just as likely to be wrongly accused as they are to be actually guilty of breaking the law and expecting to get away with their behavior. In other words, people with badges and guns who are sworn to protect us are not saints. They are just as innocent and flawed and soiled as the rest of us. In the end we fervently hope the justice system gets it right when it comes time to prosecution and punishment.
In Harrington’s case, he has reportedly resigned his position and relayed that finding and sharing pictures of female arrestees is a game among some members of the CHP. Sadly, even that doesn’t shock me. Outrage yes, but shock?
Nope.
What is surprising is that women, and men I presume, are walking around with nude pictures of themselves. I realize that says volumes about me and my 40-plus years of naiveté, but the idea that adults frolic about their daily routines with pictures of their bits and pieces on their cell phones leaves me shaking my head.
Before cell phones were available would these same people walk around with photo albums containing pictures of themselves in various stages of naked posing?
I’m reminded of an evening when two women educated me with their own version of shock therapy.
At one point one of them received a text message. She glanced at her screen, rolled her eyes, sighed “God” and then resumed our conversation. Her reaction was as if she been annoyed by a fly.
A male acquaintance had asked to see pictures of her breasts. If not her breasts then at least her bra. The other woman rolled her eyes, muttered then resumed her part of the conversation. After a moment they turned to me, perplexed by my reaction.
I did not understand. Someone she knew but was not dating wanted to see nude photos of her? They seemed amused. Yes, she said. Demanded actually. And no, they had never acquiesced.
The concept was still not making sense. Naked pictures? Of you?
Yes, she said. And as if to get the ball rolling the men would start by sending a shirtless picture of themselves or even ones of their participle dangling in front of their colon.
That sort of thing happened all the time, they explained. After whittling away at the hyperbole they explained that while not all the time, often enough that the behavior had long since stopped shocking them any more. Grossed out, bothered and outraged on occasion. But shocked? Nope.
People taking nude pictures of themselves, strangers asking to see them (or sending photos of their own) and cops stealing them. When did this start to happen? And why?
