The buck stops where?
The Missoula Police Department is reviewing an estimated 50 sexual assaults from the last two years to collect data and make sure the cases were properly closed.
The department re-opened two cases as of the latest report and gives a full account Wednesday to the Missoula City Council Public Safety and Health Committee. Chief Mark Muir cautioned that outcomes in those cases could be the same even though investigators are taking more steps.
After that story Sunday, a couple licensed clinical psychologists commended Councilwoman Cynthia Wolken in a letter for her “commitment to investigate crimes against women, including cases of rape.” I’m sure that goes for rapes against men, too.
In the letter, Drs. Frances Buck and William Hahnstadt ask the Missoula County Attorney’s Office to take a hard look at its work responding to these crimes as well:
Due to the attention, requests for investigations, and hearings now being conducted, it appears that the Chief of Police and the UM administrators are willing to evaluate their organizations’ roles and operations in responding to assaults. We commend them. However, the DA’s office should also be a focus of comprehensive review. No matter what the University or police do, the District Attorney’s office holds the final card in decision making.
As an aside, Muir set a goal to improve data collection on all violent crimes back in August. Recent news about rape in Missoula and the chief’s attempt to gather related data put the project on the front burner.
Here’s a related guest editorial from Councilors Wolken, Caitlin Copple, and Marilyn Marler.
I’ll post in full below the entire letter from the psychologists; it was copied to the Missoulian. It will be clunky, but you’ll be able to read it all, and I don’t have to scan it.
Frances Marks Buck, Ph.D.
William A. Hahnstadt, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologists
1018 Burlington Avenue, STE 106
Missoula, MT 59801
1/22/12
Dear Councilwoman Ms. Wolken:
We read in the Missoulian with interest your commitment to investigate crimes against women, including cases of rape. We applaud your efforts to examine these issues.
As concerned citizens and professionals, we believe there are a number of issues that should be investigated: 1) Timely and thorough investigations of reports made to police by women who have been assaulted or raped are critical; 2) The responsibility of the District Attorney’s office and ADA’s to charge and prosecute perpetrators must be reviewed. It is not simply an issue of police investigations and their findings. The prosecutors, while stating the opinion that they don’t file charges because of the “burden of proof legally,” often appear more concerned with wanting to “win in court,” outcome statistics affecting them personally and the DA’s office, discomfort facing some criminal defense attorneys, and not wanting to follow through with the effort entailed in preparing for and prosecuting such cases than their mission to protect and serve. 3) How well is the Crime Victim’s Office following through with their designated mission of advocating for victims? In the published articles, the involvement of this office is notably missing.
There appear to be biases at all levels within the justice system. 1) Rapes by strangers versus acquaintances are viewed differently. Yet, the highest percentage of rapes is by perpetrators known to the victim. 2) Statistics show that among college students, a certain percentage of males anonymously reported that they had raped an average of five women. 3.) The socio-economic status of the perpetrator influences the process of police to investigate and more importantly the willingness of the DA’s office to file charges and prosecute offenders. All want to believe that only known criminals, or persons who are not deemed successful within societal stereotypes, offend. 4) There appears to be a bias within the legal system in regard to the percentage of false allegations of rape and assault. The initial perspective by authorities is that the allegation of rape is false, which then affects proper investigation. A bias free and open minded perspective at the outset should be the norm; evidence findings then can be used to confirm or not that a crime has occurred. 5) Police and prosecutors focus on the “he said, he said” barriers to charging rape, assault, and domestic abuse. I’ve been told directly by detectives and a county prosecutor that it influenced their decisions. Yet, even when there have been sources of outside evidence (witnesses, rape evaluations, corroboratory information), the information is not considered to be “enough.”
Due to the attention, requests for investigations, and hearings now being conducted, it appears that the Chief of Police and the UM administrators are willing to evaluate their organizations’ roles and operations in responding to assaults. We commend them. However, the DA’s office should also be a focus of comprehensive review. No matter what the University or police do, the District Attorney’s office holds the final card in decision making.
Sincerely,
Frances Marks Buck, Ph.D
William A. Hahnstadt, Ph.D.