scholarly journals Arrest and Referral Decisions in Sexual Assault Cases: The Influence of Police Discretion on Case Attrition

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Ericka Wentz ◽  
Kelsey Keimig
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Police Discretion ◽  
Referral Decisions ◽  
Extralegal Factors ◽  
Sexual Assault Case

Research on sexual assault case attrition spans from the decision of victims to report the incidents and cooperate with police during investigations through the final case disposition in the courtroom. However, few studies have focused on how police discretion influences attrition at the points of arrest and case referral. The current study examines factors of adult sexual assaults reported to the police to determine which legal and extralegal factors were predictive of arrest and which variables were predictive of police decisions to refer cases to prosecutors for consideration. The results of this study showed victim cooperation and evidence significantly predicted arrest and referral, along with variables which measured the seriousness of the case and victim credibility. The findings confirmed both legally relevant and extralegal variables were important considerations during each decision-making point. Implications arising from these results are discussed.

Unfounded, Cleared, or Cleared by Exceptional Means: Sexual Assault Case Outcomes From 1999 to 2014

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051987671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel M. Venema ◽  
Katherine Lorenz ◽  
Nicole Sweda
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Police Department ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
Case Files ◽  
Extralegal Factors ◽  
Assault Victims ◽  
Sexual Assault Case

Sexual assault is a highly underreported crime with even fewer cases proceeding to the point of charges and prosecution, suggesting that sexual assault victims have less opportunity for legal justice than other crime victims. Case attrition may, in part, be due to negative attitudes and rape myth acceptance (RMA) in police decision making. Yet, little attention has been paid to examining the evidentiary and extralegal factors surrounding the case that contribute to police decision making and case outcomes through examination of police case files. This examination is necessary to address the issue of differential processing of sexual assault cases in the criminal justice system. This study uses police data of sexual assault case files from 1999 to 2014 ( N = 23,525) to examine the assault, victim, and detective characteristics that contribute to case outcomes of unfounded, cleared, and exceptionally cleared through arrest and victim refusal to prosecute. Logistic regression models tested 15 years of reported sexual assault data from one large police department and found that elements that correspond with RMA were predictive of unfounded, cleared, and exceptionally cleared case decisions, providing further indication that officers consider evidentiary but also extralegal factors in decision making. Overall, results support previous contentions that sexual assault victims have unequal access to legal justice, particularly victims possessing demographic and assault characteristics that do not align with stereotypical notions of rape. Implications for future research and policing practices are discussed.

Tested at Last: How DNA Evidence in Untested Rape Kits Can Identify Offenders and Serial Sexual Assaults

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (24) ◽  
pp. 3792-3814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Campbell ◽  
Hannah Feeney ◽  
Steven J. Pierce ◽  
Dhruv B. Sharma ◽  
Giannina Fehler-Cabral
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Dna Index ◽  
Dna Profile ◽  
Dna Evidence ◽  
Sexual Assault Case ◽  
Forensic Testing ◽  
Rape Kits

An increasing number of U.S. law enforcement agencies have disclosed that they have large numbers of untested sexual assault kits (SAKs; also called “rape kits”) in police property storage. Whether previously untested SAKs should be tested for DNA evidence has been the subject of considerable public debate. To inform policy and practice regarding rape kit testing, the current study tested a sample of 900 previously unsubmitted SAKs from Detroit, Michigan, and documented the DNA forensic testing outcomes associated with those kits. We assessed how many SAKs yielded DNA profiles eligible for upload into CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), the federal DNA criminal database; how many resulted in a DNA match (termed a “CODIS hit”); and how many of those hits were associated to other sexual assault crimes (i.e., serial sexual assault hits). Overall, there were 259 CODIS hits, 69 of which had DNA matches to another sexual assault case. The potential utility of a DNA profile and CODIS hit may vary depending on whether offender was known or unknown to the victim, so we examined these outcomes separately for SAKs associated with stranger- and non-stranger-perpetrated sexual assaults. We also present six case study examples of how DNA testing and CODIS hits helped identify serial sexual assaults in both stranger and non-stranger sexual assault cases. Implications for rape kit testing policies are discussed.

It All Just Piles Up: Challenges to Victim Credibility Accumulate to Influence Sexual Assault Case Processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (15) ◽  
pp. 3151-3170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Schaefer Morabito ◽  
April Pattavina ◽  
Linda M. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Police Department ◽  
Decision Point ◽  
Case Processing ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Sexual Assault Case ◽  
Sheriff's Department

The underreporting of sexual assault is well known to researchers, practitioners, and victims. When victims do report, their complaints are unlikely to end in arrest or prosecution. Existing research on police discretion suggests that the police decision to arrest for sexual assault offenses can be influenced by a variety of legal and extra-legal factors particularly challenges to victim credibility. Although extant literature examines the effects of individual behaviors on police outcomes, less is known about how the accumulation of these behaviors, attributions, and characteristics affects police decision making. Using data collected from the Los Angeles Police Department and Sheriff’s Department, we examine one police decision point—the arrest to fill this gap in the literature. First, we examine the extent to which the effects of potential challenges to victim credibility, based on victim characteristics and behaviors, influence the arrest decision, and next, how these predictors vary across circumstances. Specifically, we examine how factors that challenge victim credibility affect the likelihood of arrest in sexual assault cases where the victim and offender are strangers, acquaintances, and intimate partners.

Creating a More Complete and Current Picture

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 525-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan A. Alderden ◽  
Sarah E. Ullman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
Female Victims ◽  
Extralegal Factors ◽  
High Attrition Rate

This study sought to identify factors that predicted outcomes for sexual assault cases involving female victims across several decision-making points and compare these findings to prior studies. The results indicate that there continues to be a high attrition rate in the handling of sexual assault cases. Only 9.7% of cases examined resulted in charges. In regards to processing decisions, most of the factors that predicted whether cases were founded, resulted in arrest, presented to the prosecution, or resulted in felony charges were extralegal factors. One factor appeared to influence several decision-making points: whether officers noted discrepancies in victim statements.

Funneled Through or Filtered Out: An Examination of Police and Prosecutorial Decision-Making in Adult Sexual Assault Cases

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 1919-1940
Author(s):  
Ericka A. Wentz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Adult Sexual Assault ◽  
Extralegal Factors ◽  
Focal Concerns Perspective ◽  
Relevant Factors

To improve criminal justice responses to sexual assault, it is vital to understand the factors that influence decisions made by police and prosecutors and how these decisions overlap. Although decisions made at the prosecutorial stage are largely reliant on the actions of the police, the prosecutors’ charging decisions often differ from how the police classify incidents. Guided by the focal concerns perspective, this study examined 231 cases of adult sexual assault incidents reported to the police to identify which factors were predictive of congruent charging decisions and arrest. The results supported the focal concerns perspective and revealed that legal and extralegal factors were influential at both of these points. Legally relevant factors that focused on the collection of evidence were paramount in decisions at both stages; however, extralegal variables such as timely reporting and whether the victim physically resisted were also significantly related to decisions at each stage. Implications arising from the results are discussed.

Impact of poor evidence management on DNA profiling in sexual assault and homicide: A case report

2021 ◽  
pp. 002581722096648
Author(s):  
Naresh Kumar ◽  
Pooja Puri ◽  
SK Shukla ◽  
Deepa Verma
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Dna Profiling ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Female Victims ◽  
Vaginal Swabs ◽  
Biological Evidence

Increasing numbers of female victims of violent sexual assaults are being murdered with the aim of concealing the identity of the perpetrator. Proper handling and analysis of evidence is very important in gaining a conviction in many criminal cases. After evidence is collected, due precautions must be taken to ensure that the integrity of the sample is maintained, and chances of contamination are minimised. This paper presents a case study where improper handling of biological evidence led to loss of evidentiary value, and the semen could not be located on the vaginal swabs and victim’s garments due to improper preservation of samples. However, the DNA from the nail of a decomposed finger helped identify the victim, and the suspect was apprehended based on the clues given by her family.

Making the Call: College Students’ Legal Consciousness and Hypothetical Activation of Police for Sexual Assaults

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110211
Author(s):  
Trish Oberweis ◽  
Dayna Henry ◽  
Stacey Griner ◽  
Ekaterina Gorislavsky
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Contact ◽  
Legal Consciousness ◽  
Sexual Assault Prevention ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Assault Victims ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Assault Prevention

Research has identified the necessity of sexual assault victims to label their experience as criminal to initiate reporting. However, barriers exist in labeling uninvited sexual contact as criminal. This study examined college students’ assessments of whether eight nonconsensual behaviors met the legal definition of sexual assault, and whether such behaviors should be reported to police. Results indicated students acknowledged the nonconsensual behaviors as criminal; however, gaps were identified between awareness that the acts were criminal and willingness to report to police. Findings demonstrate a need for continued efforts for sexual assault prevention among college students.

Focal Concerns and Police Decision Making in Sexual Assault Cases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802199128
Author(s):  
David S. Lapsey ◽  
Bradley A. Campbell ◽  
Bryant T. Plumlee
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Campbell Collaboration ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

Sexual assault and case attrition at the arrest stage are serious problems in the United States. Focal concerns have increasingly been used to explain police decision making in sexual assault cases. Because of the popularity of the focal concerns perspective and potential to inform evidence-based training, a systematic review and meta-analysis are needed to condense the literature. In this study, we assess the overall strength of the relationship between focal concerns variables and police decisions to arrest in cases of sexual assault. Our assessment of the effects of focal concerns variables on arrest decision making in sexual assault cases followed the systematic review protocols provided by the Campbell Collaboration of Systematic Reviews. Specifically, we used the Campbell Collaboration recommendations to search empirical literature and used meta-analysis to evaluate the size, direction, and strength of the impact of focal concerns variables on arrest decisions. Our search strategy detected 14 eligible studies and 79 effect sizes. The meta-analysis found several robust and statistically significant correlates of arrest. In fact, each focal concerns concept produced at least one robust arrest correlate. Overall, focal concerns offers a strong approach for explaining police decisions in sexual assault cases. Although practical concerns and resource constraints produced the strongest arrest correlates, results show the importance of additional case characteristics in officers’ decision to arrest.

scholarly journals Sexual Assault: Social and Stranger Rape

1987 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Edward Renner ◽  
Carol Wackett
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Physical Injury ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
Assault Victims ◽  
To Receive

The Service for Sexual Assault Victims in Halifax reviewed 474 cases of sexual assault handled over a three-year period to determine the nature and relative frequency of social and stranger sexual assault. Women are most likely to be sexually assaulted by a man who is known to and often trusted by them. Women who are raped in a social context are less willing than those raped by a stranger to seek help at the time of the assault, to receive medical attention, or to report the rape to the police. They are also less likely to be threatened with physical harm or to receive physical injury. The cultural values which are responsible for the high frequency of sexual assaults by men who are known to their victims, and for the reluctance of the women to disclose the assault, are discussed.

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