A "locker room culture" of racism and homophobia exists within the police service, according to an ex-officer accused of sex assaults.
Retired Sgt David Roythorne, 52, denies nine indecent assaults and three sexual assaults, allegedly committed while serving with the Northumbria force.
He told a jury at Newcastle Crown Court that antics like flicking naked colleagues with towels was commonplace.
He said no-one had ever complained during his time with the force.
During the trial, which is in its third week, Mr Roythorne, of Westmoor, North Tyneside, has been portrayed as a bully, who told some of his victims "RHIP - Rank Has Its Privileges" after subjecting them to alleged sex attacks.
It's like saying homophobia doesn't exist and racism doesn't exist, it does, only people are more aware of who they say it to
David Roythorne
He is alleged to have frequently grabbed other officers and members of the public by the crotch, and thrust his genitals into other officers' faces and simulated sex.
The charges followed an IPCC investigation into the incidents, which were alleged to have happened between July 2001 and August 2006.
Giving evidence, Mr Roythorne said: "In my whole life as a police officer, I have never heard anybody say 'Don't do that.'
"Of course, the image projected to the general public, the government and the press, is that it doesn't happen any more, it does.
"It's like saying homophobia doesn't exist and racism doesn't exist, it does, only people are more aware of who they say it to."
Car washing
Mr Roythorne said the complaints against him were made from within a department he had taken over and which he dubbed "sleepy hollow" because of the level of laziness.
He said some staff would clean their cars when they should have been working and that the department had not made an arrest for at least 15 years.
Mr Roythorne transferred to Northumbria Police in 1997 from the Met in London and retired from the police force in May 2007.
The trial continues.
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