Chief of Police
Saratoga, NY

During my thirty-two years in law enforcement I've concluded that sexual assault investigations are among the most difficult yet important crimes a police officer will investigate in their career. These assaults are very personal in nature, leaving the victim physically and emotionally traumatized, and pose special considerations for an investigative strategy by officers tasked with solving the crime and bringing the responsible offender to justice.

Investigations into sexual assaults require a well coordinated response by law enforcement that commences immediately upon receipt of the call by communications personnel and the preliminary response and investigation by patrol officers to identify and preserve evidence. A coordinated follow-up investigation by police personnel assigned primary investigative responsibility for the case will rely on coordination with crime scene technicians, sexual assault forensic examiners (AKA SAFE Nurse) at the hospital, and close collaboration with victim support service personnel and the prosecutors office. In today's policing atmosphere, this is best accomplished through well thought out policies and procedures and interagency protocols coupled with multidisciplinary training at all levels of the involved agencies.

Communications personnel must be trained in collecting appropriate information at the onset, and be provided departmental guidelines at their fingertips for easy reference when the initial report is received. Their training should include an understanding of the emotional trauma the victim will likely be under and the wide variety of responses to expect from victims as communication staff gathers information about the assault. Well trained communications staff are better equipped to initiate a best practices approach during the first step to law enforcement's response and investigation. Being the first contact the victim will have in a chain of interaction with law enforcement, communications personnel can set the tone for the victim's emotional ability to cope in the unfamiliar and often intimidating road of the legal system.

Responding patrol officers must have a solid foundation through training and department guidelines in understanding the emotional stress a victim of sexual assault is under, displaying patience and understanding in their contacts with the victim. The first police officers at the incident scene must find balance between their interaction with the victim and their goal of obtaining necessary information about the assault and preserving the crime scene. Sexual assaults most always involve two separate crime scenes; the location where the assault occurred and the crime scene evidence on the victim, making the victim a separate crime scene. Officers must therefore not only cause the physical location of the assault to be secured for processing, but they must be trained to deal appropriately with the victim's emotions while working towards the goal of the sexual assault forensic examination by trained medical staff. Officers should always consider offering to call rape crisis or other appropriate victim support providers for the victim at the onset of the investigation. Victim service workers emotional support for the victim can be an asset in the investigation, assisting the victim in understanding why certain questions must be asked by the investigating officers and the importance of the evidence collection process, especially the sexual assault forensic examination of the victim by trained medical staff.

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