Investigating and Processing

INVESTIGATING AND PROCESSING
A SEXUAL ASSAULT/ RAPE CASE

INITIAL STEPS
Once an officer has received a call pertaining to a sexual assault or rape, there are a few initial steps that must be carried out. Upon interviewing the victim and determining that an assault or rape has taken place, you as the investigation officer need to take the following initial steps:
  * Have the dispatcher notify Chief Police officer and/or Capt. immediately.
  * Have the dispatcher notify the current sexual assault officer for this department.
  *   Chief Police officer will notify all other college OFFICIALS and inform them of the situation.
Discuss with the victim the necessity of going to the hospital to have a rape examination performed. (This is not a pleasant ordeal for you or the victim, however; it is very important when we pursue legal charges against the suspect(s) to have this very crucial evidence.)
If the victim expresses the desire to carry out the legal process, pick up a rape kit and transport victim to the hospital.  
 
The hospital usually calls an advocate from the rape crisis center to the hospital to talk with and provide support to the victim.
If you are the only officer available, you must collect any evidence that might be beneficial to the prosecution e.g. bedding that the assault might have taken place on, the victim’s clothing at the time of the assault etc. Also, always attend to the victim’s needs prior to trying to apprehend the suspect.
Rape, next to cold-blooded murder, is the most heinous of crimes. It is a vicious, brutal attack on women that leaves irreparable psychological scars long after the devastating experience. And, unfortunately, it is one of the most common crimes being committed today, possibly numbering more than the offense of robbery. Recent sex crimes research indicates:
  * Two women are raped every minute in the United States.
  * One woman in twelve will be raped sometime during the course of her lifetime....