The West Virginia State Police Academy has been accused of placing hidden cameras in a women's locker room and showers.
A civil lawsuit filed on Thursday alleges that state law enforcement has created a “culture of misconduct toward women”.
Officers Megan Talkington and Brenda Lesnett are part of the civil action against the agency and are the first women to speak out.
“I would not want my daughter to walk through the halls of the West Virginia State Police Academy until there’s reform. I just don’t think she’d be safe,” Ms Talkington told CNN.
The suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, identifies the plaintiff as an employee who “is known to have been videotaped while using the female shower and locker facilities at the training academy”.
Lawyer Teresa Toriseva filed the lawsuit and she also represents around 70 other women who have made similar claims, including minors who took part in a junior programme at the police academy.
Ms Talkington and Ms Lesnett are set to file their own complaints.
Speaking to CNN about both the academy and state police as a whole, Ms Toriseva described a “hostile, misogynistic, toxic environment”.
She added that it’s “not just male-dominated, it’s anti-woman”.
The governor and other state officials received anonymous letters accusing police leadership of misconduct, including the use of hidden cameras. The letters alleged that the camera system was destroyed as was a hard drive of the footage.
In March, Governor Jim Justice told the press that “there was three troopers that found a thumb drive and absolutely from that they found the video, and then from what I understand one, if not all, you know, immediately jerked the thumb drive out and threw it on the floor and started stomping on it … You can’t make this stuff up”.
The lawsuit claims that the state police “knowingly, wantonly and intentionally” destroyed evidence of the footage. It adds that the plaintiff “will likely never know with certainty whether the recordings of her in the female shower and locker facilities … still exist, who has those recordings, who has viewed those recordings, and whether they will ever be released to the public and/or posted online”.
Mr Justice replaced the leader of the State Police and put the blame on an academy official who passed away in 2016.
Ms Toriseva said she thinks others were involved and added that officials were “blaming somebody who can’t speak for themselves”.
Mr Justice added: “Maybe there’s no way to recover evidence, but we ought to try … because we’re absolutely better than this.”
The governor said those responsible would be found and he told the public to support the state police.
“They don’t need to have rocks thrown at them,” he said. “These people are doing good work, and they’re doing good work every day. We should stand rock solid behind them and we’ll clean up the bad stuff.”
Ms Toriseva said her office is working on additional lawsuits which are set to include sexual and physical assaults against women at the State Police, adding that around 15 of the 70 women she’s working with were minors when they were at the academy.
The secret camera system allegations go back a number of years, she said.
“We think that the story that has been told is not the full story, that it’s much worse, that there were more people involved,” she added. “We think there’s a cultural problem.”
“The more I thought about it the angrier I got,” Ms Lesnett told CNN. “Sitting here today, I still feel exposed. And I’m constantly wondering who’s going to see me next – Who has already seen me? It’s very nerve-racking.
“Am I going to have to deal with this the rest of my life? Ten years from now is it going to show up on the dark web?
“Every woman that has gone through the academy or for law enforcement training is a victim.”
“I fear Brenda and I are going to have a target on our backs,” Ms Talkington said about their decision to speak out.
“My biggest fear is that no one comes forward because of retaliation,” Ms Lesnett told the network. “If I were to just leave, what does that show the young generations? I want them to say I stuck up for the females in law enforcement and I’m helping make this environment better so that they can have a future.”
The Independent has reached out to the office of the governor and state police for comment.
