A woman ran into the street outside a Massachusetts State Police barracks on Martha's Vineyard in August, partially undressed, telling a passing driver she had just been sexually assaulted. The alleged assault happened after a trooper stationed on the island for the summer let a male friend spend the night at the Oak Bluffs barracks, the housing troopers use while working on Martha's Vineyard.

Massachusetts State Police say the two people involved were not employees of the department and that an internal affairs investigation is underway. "We are fully cooperating with the local police's investigation into the matter and remain committed to pursuing justice in every sexual assault case," the department said in a statement.

That commitment needs to be more than words. A state-owned barracks was used to house a man who allegedly assaulted a woman that same night, and the public deserves to know how that happened and what safeguards, if any, governed who could stay there. An internal affairs review run by the same department whose facility was involved is not enough on its own.

We're calling on Massachusetts State Police and the Oak Bluffs Police Department to ensure this investigation is thorough, independent, and transparent, and to publicly share its findings once complete, including any changes to barracks access policy that follow. The survivor deserves a real path to justice, and the public deserves confidence that a state facility can't again become the site of an alleged assault with no accountability.

Sign the petition to demand a full, independent investigation and public accountability, before another survivor is left without answers.