Evaluating and Measuring Law Enforcement Success
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Evaluating and Measuring Law Enforcement Success
By Joanne Archambault, Sexual Assault Training & Investigations (SATI)
www.mysati.com
After decades of feminist lobbying and demands for better treatment of rape victims, many police
agencies are still stuck in a 1950s-era view of sexual assault.
In many cities across the United States, Chiefs of Police, Sheriff’s and Campus Administrators
report their crime trends at the close of the year, often directly to the media. In addition to crime
statistics, arrest statistics and clearance rates are commonly used to measure successes and
failures within their jurisdictions.
We need to create new measures of success for law enforcement. But first, we need to begin with
identifying and understanding the roles of members of our own sexual assault response teams.
Many advocates, medical personnel and other members of the sexual assault response team see a
police officer’s primary role as enforcement or arrest, especially when responding to crimes like
sexual assault where an arrest is often demanded. It is important to recognize that an officer’s
first responsibility is actually preservation of life; to protect and serve. This means law
enforcement should provide the best service possible regardless of whether anyone believes the
case would be successfully prosecuted.
When we fail to establish realistic, meaningful evaluation tools, it is too easy to turn our back on
difficult investigations (the majority of sexual assaults). In addition, we contribute to the burn out
of the professionals who serve victims of sexual assault because the measure of success we have
established is often unattainable, resulting in constant disappointment, frustration and job
dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, this frustration is often transmitted to the victim in many different
ways.
Example:
If the victim was engaged in behavior that increased her risk of sexual assault at the time of the
crime, her cred