Politely declined, logded a complaint with his superiors and/or local authorities before running off to US District Court to sue?
I agree. Overkill; unless she really, really thought he was a perv. If he was just a dumb guy, then give him a break and let his superiors deal with his poor judgment in this arena.
Perhaps she could have opted that route; assuming she wouldn't then be harassed at home, have her tires slashed, get pulled over for 'broken tail light', 'running a stop sign' or other harassment issues. We all know that a cop can 'harass' individuals - it's not a secret and it's not unheard of either.
This sent a message, loud and clear to the department. Perhaps she was harassed previously? Perhaps the Department has a habit of 'looking up hotties' and doing this sort of crap. We don't know if this cop did it every day, to everyone in the neighborhood - or if this was his first abuse of power. But, at the end of the day, this was clearly an "Abuse of Power".
If she drops the case, the message will be sent. If she keeps the case open - the message will be sent to every cop .... every where. Personally, I like this sort of thing. My private and confidential information is to be kept private and confidential - or someone is gonna pay. If I wanted my private residence displayed for public consumption, I'd have it printed on my car door, or listed in the phone book. Those people I know, who I want to know where I live; are informed of my home's location, personally, warmly and confidentially.
I haven't followed this case, but maybe she did so and they blew her off?
“Politely declined, logded a complaint with his superiors and/or local authorities before running off to US District Court to sue? “
And what really would that have accomplished? They would have made fun of him and ignored her. Possibly given her a few more speeding tickets to teach her a lesson.