Comment by what_pd on 26/12/2022 at 16:54 UTC

135 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)

View submission: Detective completely overhauled the way his department handled rape cases, greatly improving the clearance rate | Why aren't his tactics more widely adopted?

TL;DR: he went from being a personification of 90s-era horror stories about terrible investigations, to nationally-accepted best practice. Now he gets to put more rapers in jail.

Replies

Comment by ILikeNeurons at 26/12/2022 at 22:32 UTC

101 upvotes, 3 direct replies

Specifically, here's what they did:

• Approach the victim in a compassionate, empathetic way.

• Tell the person that it’s OK if they don’t remember or don’t know.

• Ask open-ended questions and don’t interrupt.

• Ask what they felt during an assault.

• Ask them about sights, smells and sounds to jog memories.

• If tough questions need to be asked, explain why.

• When done, explain the next steps

• Victim advocates needed to be involved as soon possible.

• All cases needed to be screened in person to make sure the investigations were thorough.

• All rape kits had to be tested

• Instead of interviewing victims in the same cramped bare room where they interrogated suspects, officers renovated a larger, more home like space outfitted with couches and table lamps

Russo’s goal was wider than justice for the victim. He wanted to help them recover from their assault.

If you think that's standard everywhere, why are there still so many untested rape kits in Texas[1]?

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/stoprape/comments/zvn8ym/despite_legislation_and_funding_texas_still_has/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3