Misconduct allegations in police youth program run by Boy Scouts

Explorer programs, which are overseen by the Boy Scouts, are supposed to foster teen interest in policing. They’ve faced nearly 200 misconduct allegations.

✍️: Lakeidra Chavis, Daphne Duret & Joe Neff, additional reporting by Geoff Hing, David Eads, Weihua Li and Catherine Odom; 🎥: Chris Vazquez / The Marshall Project

#shorts #boyscouts #police

Transcript:
CHRIS VAZQUEZ: A police youth program has faced SA allegations for decades. Here are 5 takeaways from my colleagues’ investigation.

LAKEIDRA CHAVIS: 1. We found nearly 200 allegations against Explorers programs across the U.S. since 1974.

CHRIS: In Massachusetts, three officers allegedly groomed a program participant named Sandra Birchmore. All three men have denied any wrongdoing. In South Miami, police records show a detective offered to teach teens about sex before assaulting them. And in Connecticut, an officer allegedly handcuffed a 17-year-old in a vacant house before he assaulted her.

CHRIS: 2. Consequences for law enforcement varied a lot.

LAKEIDRA: We found 156 officers who faced professional or legal consequences in connection to the allegations against them.

CHRIS: At least two-thirds were criminally charged. About half of them actually spent time behind bars, from weekends in jail to decades in prison.

CHRIS: 3. The Boy Scouts have a rule against one adult being alone with kids, but they gave an exception to police departments running this program.

CHRIS: 4. Some police departments minimized or dismissed concerns from people who reported troubling behavior. Records show instances like a Texas police chief not believing a victim or wanting anything in writing.

CHRIS: 5. My colleagues know there’s more misconduct they haven’t uncovered yet.

LAKEIDRA: So if you have a story about the Explorers program that you want to share, you can reach out.