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U.S. NEWS Friday 28 december 2018

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Despite #MeToo, rape cases still confound police

By JIM MUSTIAN and MI- includes more complete bands or close acquain- the percentage of rape “Are women supposed to
CHAEL R. SISAK data than the snapshot the tances. The declining clear- cases that are exceptional- start wearing body camer-
Associated Press bureau releases each fall. ance rate could mean ly cleared compared with as when they’re alone in a
NEW YORK (AP) — The The grim report card has that investigators in some those resulting in arrests, room with somebody?”
#MeToo movement is em- prompted debate among places are finally classi- but state data can fill out Many police sex assault
powering victims of sexual the picture in some places. units have heavy work-
assault to speak up like nev- In Detroit, for instance, po- loads and insufficient staff-
er before, but what should lice investigated 664 re- ing, said Kevin Strom, the
be a watershed moment ported rapes last year but director of RTI Internation-
for holding assailants ac- made just 44 arrests, ac- al’s Center for Policing Re-
countable has coincided cording to Michigan data. search & Investigative Sci-
with a troubling trend: Po- Another 15 cases were ence, a research center
lice departments in the U.S. closed for other reasons. based in North Carolina.
are becoming less and less That would give Detroit a “I think that has a major im-
likely to successfully close clearance rate of 8.9 per- pact in terms of influencing
rape investigations. cent, even though only 6.6 the ability of law enforce-
The so-called “clearance percent of reported rapes ment to successfully clear
rate” for rape cases fell resulted in an arrest. these cases,” he said.
last year to its lowest point Sam Gaspardo said that The clearance rate in rape
since at least the 1960s, ac- when she reported in 2011 cases dropped steadily in
cording to FBI data provid- that she had been sexually the 1960s, plateaued at
ed to The Associated Press. assaulted, police in Wood- nearly 50 percent through
That nadir may be driven, bury, Minnesota, lacked a most of the 70s, 80s and
at least in part, by a greater In this Dec. 18, 2018 photo, Sam Gaspardo poses for a portrait at sense of urgency. 90s, then began a steady
willingness by police to cor- the Associated Press bureau in Minneapolis. Associated Press Investigators in the St. Paul yearly decline that persist-
rectly classify rape cases suburb expressed frustration ed through last year, ac-
and leave them open even criminal justice experts, fying rape investigations that she delayed reporting cording to the statistics col-
when there is little hope of with some attributing the properly, said Kim Lonsway, the attack for more than lected by the FBI.
solving them. falling clearance rate to an research director at End a year and couldn’t recall In 2013, the FBI significantly
But experts say it also re- antiquated approach to in- Violence Against Women the precise date. One time, broadened the definition
flects the fact that not vestigations. International. when she phoned to follow of rape in its Uniform Crime
enough resources are be- “You’d figure with all the Rather than hastily “clear- up her case, she was put Reporting system to include
ing devoted to investigat- new technology — and the ing” certain tough-to-solve on hold indefinitely. oral penetration and at-
ing sexual assault at a time fact that the overwhelming cases, she said, some po- “To me, it felt like it was in- tacks on men. After the re-
when more victims are majority of victims of sexual lice departments have be- validated,” Gaspardo said. vision, the number of rapes
entrusting police with their assault know their attack- gun “suspending” them, “I was just completely dis- counted in the system
harrowing experiences. er — the clearance rates meaning they remain open missed.” soared from an average
“This is the second-most would be a lot higher,” indefinitely. That leaves Woodbury Police Cmdr. of around 84,500 per year
serious crime in the FBI’s said Joseph Giacalone, a open the possibility there Steve Wills acknowledged between 1995 and 2012, to
crime index,” said Carol former New York City po- could someday be an ar- Gaspardo’s complaint fell nearly 126,400 in 2016. The
Tracy, executive director of lice sergeant who teaches rest. “This may be an in- through the cracks and was clearance rate after the
the Women’s Law Project in at the John Jay College of dicator of some positive not investigated for years, adjustment continued to
Philadelphia, “and it simply Criminal Justice. things,” Lonsway said. something he called “a tick down, falling from 38
doesn’t get the necessary Experts agree that sexual The FBI’s clearance num- system failure.” “Obviously, percent to 32 percent.
resources from police.” assault is one of the most bers provide an incom- we own that,” Wills said. The number leapt again
Police successfully closed confounding crimes police plete picture of how often Wills said authorities have to 166,000 in 2017, a year
just 32 percent of rape in- confront. Many investiga- rapists are brought to jus- “no reason not to believe” when sexual assault got un-
vestigations nationwide tions lack corroborating tice. That’s because they Gaspardo but decided a precedented national at-
in 2017, according to the witnesses and physical evi- also include “exceptional few weeks ago they could tention in the wake of alle-
data, ranking it second dence. A significant chunk clearances,” where po- not prove her alleged at- gations made against Pres-
only to robbery as the least- of complaints are reported lice close an investigation tacker had forced her into ident Donald Trump and
solved violent crime. That months or years after the without charging anyone, intercourse. Hollywood mogul Harvey
statistic is down from about fact. Researchers believe for reasons beyond the He acknowledged police Weinstein. Both men deny
62 percent in 1964, despite only a third of rapes are re- department’s control. That would have been in a far assaulting anyone.
advances such as DNA ported at all. could be because a victim better position to investi- Rape complaints in New
testing. Historically, some detec- stopped cooperating or gate the case had they be- York City, for instance,
The FBI provided The AP tives also discouraged the suspect died or is incar- gun looking into the matter surged 24.5 percent as the
with a dataset of rape sta- women from pursuing cerated in another state, immediately. #MeToo movement took
tistics dating back to the tough-to-prove charges among other reasons. “It can make a person so off, according to city crime
early 1960s — a table that against boyfriends, hus- The figures do not specify angry,” Gaspardo said. statistics.q