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Victims fear police errors

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by Letters to the Editor

Friday, February 23, 2007

Have you ever heard the statistic that only 20 percent of sexual assault victims actually report the crime to the police? This is roughly what the Department of Justice finds when comparing reported crimes to national victimization surveys. While this fact may startle some people, it is even less reported on college campuses across the nation.

In the spring of 2002 the University of Wisconsin's Sexual Assault Survey found that only 68 percent of victims told anyone of their assault and largely to friends (94 percent) or roommates (57 percent) instead of the police. More specifically, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that in 2000 only 5 percent of female college students reported their sexual assault to the police! While many factors create a silence around sexual violence recent news coverage of the Zeta Psi sexual assault suggests at least one reason, police disbelief.

Just this fall the "Survivor Justice Resolution" was passed by City Council in light of the Patty case, where a visually impaired rape victim was disbelieved by Madison Police and subsequently revictimized by our local criminal justice system. The resolution not only made amends to Patty, it also required the Madison Police Department to reform their policies to honor the victims' right to treatment with "with respect and dignity." It seems that this new policy is truly needed to protect the brave few who are reporting.

While as low as 2-4 percent of sexual assaults prove to be false it seems that Madison Police are unaware since their "ground zero" means disbelieving a victim's report rather than investigating a crime scene. Is it any wondering that reporting is so low when victims are assumed to be lying?

Laura L Dunn PAVE Media Advocate uwpavemedia@gmail.com

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Anonymous (February 23, 2007 @ 2:33pm):

I fear police errors daily. I fear our court system (attorneys), who are (literally) in bed with the police. There will be people quick to point out that the majority of police officers, for the most part, are committed to enforcing the law and protecting the citizens, and their reputation is unfairly tarnished by a few "bad apples." Furthermore, people will say... our court system isn't perfect, but "it's the best the world has seen."

We can't be "protected" by the police if we can't be protected from them as well. I grew up in a small town, never thinking twice about the police. Yeah, they were overzealous about traffic enforcement and keeping kids from trespassing on school grounds, but other than that, they kept the peace. But, as I've lived in Madison, and subsequently Denver, Chicago, and LA, I've opened my eyes to the underworld of police abuse and their code of silence. The few bad apples are ruining the bushel.

The unions are keeping the perpetuaters perpetuating.
We need to demand the utmost professionalism from the police, and the DA's that they serve.

You might be saying, "well, I lead a clean life, I've never had any business with the police." Then, think about this:
Why does our country lock up more of its citizens (by %) than other nation?

And when real crimes are committed, why do the police seem to disbelieve or marginalize the victim?

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