Ladies, watch out for the boys in blue. Officers have recently had a reputation for being too forceful and taking the lives of unarmed black men. Race relations have been in the spotlight, but why isn’t society looking at the women who have been beaten and assaulted?

According to an investigation by the Associated Press, over a six-year period about 1,000 police officers in the U.S. lost their badges because of sexual misconduct.

“AP determined that some 550 officers were decertified for sexual assault, including rape and sodomy, sexual shakedowns in which citizens were extorted into performing favors to avoid arrest, or gratuitous pat-downs,” the report said. “Some 440 officers lost their badges for other sex offenses, such as possessing child pornography, or for sexual misconduct that included being a peeping Tom, sexting juveniles or having on-duty intercourse.”

Related: UK Police’s body cameras build trust between police, students

We are taught from a young age that police are there to help us, and we should trust them. But the harsh reality is, we need to teach young women that in the real world no one is safe.

This might seem like Mean World Syndrome, the phenomenon where violence-related content of media makes viewers believe that the world is more dangerous than it actually is. But women are never really safe and these officers are proving the point.

“I think it is important that we pull back from the idea that it’s just sexual desire that’s uncontainable, because they aren’t just sexually assaulting everyone they come into contact with,” said Rhonda Henry, Director of Violence Intervention & Prevention Center at UK. “It’s typically they are choosing people based on opportunity and access.”

Chief Bernadette DiPino of the Sarasota Police Department in Florida told Feminist Daily News, “It’s happening probably in every law enforcement agency across the country … It’s so underreported and people are scared that if they call and complain about a police officer, they think every other police officer is going to be then out to get them.”

Related: Richmond officer’s death shows harsh realities of police work

One officer in particular, Daniel Holtzclaw, has been charged with 36 crimes including: first-degree rape, sexual assault, indecent exposure, stalking, burglary and more, according to NY Daily News.

NY Daily also said many women reported that Holtzclaw forced them into his squad car and drove them to strange places including fields, empty lots and driveways. Some women reported that he insisted on taking them to their home and then raped them inside their home. The GPS data backed up each claim.

The mind-blowing thing is this isn’t happening in prison, where women are locked up and have little control over their lives. Police officers sexually assault women on the streets of our country, yet the media has yet to make this a priority of news.

From taking oaths, to serve and protect, police officers are not above the law. However, many in uniform believe they can get away with almost anything. And from shooting with hands up to taking advantage of women in their community, the police of our generation have plenty of room to improve.