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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPolicy 234 Sexual Assault Investigations R d OSHKOSH POLICE DEPARTMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TITLE: Sexual Assault Investigations POLICY SERIES: 234 Effective Date: August 18, 2022 Date Issued: August 18, 2022 Chief of Police: Dean Smith Date Signed: August 18, 2022 (signature on file) CALEA Standard: 84.1.2 Review Date: July 7, 2022 Review By: Command Staff, PSD Lieutenant Rescinds Policy Dated: March 14, 2018 SECTION DESCRIPTION 234.01 General Policy 234.02 Purpose 234.03 Definitions 234.04 Sexual Assault Response Team 234.05 Procedures 234.06 Victims Who Do Not Want to Report Incident 234.07 Juvenile Victims 234.08 Sexual Assault Suspect SANE Examinations 234.09 Processing of Sexual Assault Evidence Appendix A Sexual Assault Response Team Protocols 234.01 GENERAL POLICY Members of the Oshkosh Police Department recognize that sexual assault is a sensitive matter. A victim centered approach shall be used when conducting these types of investigations. This will allow for the compassionate assistance of victims while conducting the investigation. 234.02 PURPOSE This policy is created to provide uniform procedures for officers who investigate sexual assaults. The policy also recognizes the partnership the Oshkosh Police Department shares with the Fox Valley Sexual Assault Response Team. 234.03 DEFINITIONS A. SANE— Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner —Medical personnel who have special training in collecting evidence related to sexual assaults and dealing compassionately with victims. B. SART— Sexual Assault Response Team—A consortium of medical, law enforcement and advocacy personnel who specialize in sexual assault investigations. C. CAC —Child Advocacy Center—A child-focused location that provides comprehensive services in the form of specialized medical exams, forensic interviews, advocacy services and health screenings for children in out of home placements. D. Reach Counseling—An agency which provides an advocate to offer mental health care to the understanding of and response to emotional, sexual and physical abuse. E. Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit—Wisconsin State Crime Lab evidence kit for the uniform collection of sexual assault evidence. 234.04 Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) The Oshkosh Police Department will follow the guidelines of the Fox Valley Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), which utilizes a victim-centered approach when dealing with individuals who have been sexually assaulted. The CID Lieutenant will represent the Oshkosh Police Department at SART meetings to ensure department practices stay current with SART protocols. 234.05 Procedures A. When a victim contacts the Oshkosh Police Department to report a sexual assault the investigating officer shall use the following guidelines to assist their investigation. 1. The Officer will determine if a crime was committed and whether or not it occurred in the City of Oshkosh. If a crime was committed in an outside jurisdiction the officer shall contact the appropriate police agency to coordinate a response. 2. The investigating officer shall contact a supervisor and brief them on all sexual assault investigations. The supervisor shall consult the notification matrix regarding the possible notification of CID. If a detective will be responding the investigating officer should limit their interview of the victim gathering only basic facts. 3. If a crime was committed within the City of Oshkosh the officer shall determine if a forensic exam should be conducted. i. Officers should consider the possibility that physical evidence may still be present when deciding to request the sexual assault evidence collection kit be used in the investigation. Whether the sexual assault occurred in the past two weeks is usually important when making this decision. ii. The victim may request for officers to complete an investigation, but may not wish to have an exam conducted. If this occurs officers should proceed with the investigation as detailed in 234.05, but without having an exam conducted. iii. If the victim wishes to have an exam the officer shall check the online calenda I to determine if a SANE is on duty and what hospital they are at. If there is a SANE working at different hospitals the officer will ask the victim which hospital they wish to have the exam completed at. The officer must contact the hospital to verify that the SANE is still available to conduct the examination. iv. If a SANE is not available the officer shall contact the Aurora Oshkosh Medical Center House Supervisor pager at- =to determine if they can make arrangements to have a SANE available. V. If Aurora cannot arrange for a SANE then the officer shall contact ThedaCare Regional Medical Center - Appleton at_ to page an on-call SANE (both numbers are for the ER). The officer will provide their name, agency and telephone number they may be contacted at by the SANE. The SANE will call back and advise what hospital the victim should be taken to for an examination. vi. Officers will only use the hospitals in the Fox Valley Sexual Assault Response Team area. This includes Aurora Medical Center, Ascension Mercy Medical Center, Theda Care Regional Medical Center - Appleton, Theda Care Regional Medical Center - Neenah and St. Elizabeth hospitals. 4. Whenever possible the officer should arrange to have victims and suspects taken to separate hospitals from each other. 5. If no SANE is available within a reasonable amount of time the officer will offer to transport the victim to the nearest emergency room. The victim may decline the officer's offer to transport them to the ER if they prefer to arrange for their own transportation. The officer will request the staff at the ER to perform the examination and complete the sexual assault evidence collection kit. 6. The officer shall contact a victim advocate at Reach Counseling Services at 920-426-1460 or 920-722-8150 and advise what hospital the victim is being taken to, as an advocate will go to that hospital to meet with the victim. The advocate will ask the victim if she/he desires an advocate. If yes, the advocate will stay with and assist the victim as necessary. If no, the advocate leaves after giving the victim a business card and brochures for follow up contact, as needed. 7. The investigating officer shall conduct the victim interview with the SANE and victim advocate to avoid having the victim repeat the incident multiple times, if possible. B. In certain situations a victim may chose to go for medical treatment at a hospital before contacting the OPD. In these situations the following guidelines should be followed: 1. An on-duty SANE may start the interview and collect physical evidence using the Sexual Assault Kit. The SANE nurse will call the appropriate police agency of the jurisdiction where the sexual assault occurred. 2. Officers will go to the hospital where the victim and SANE nurse are located. 3. The officer will ensure that a victim advocate from Reach Counseling Services is contacted at 920-426-1460 or 920-722-8150. The victim advocate will follow the same guidelines as described when a victim presents to law enforcement. 234.06 Victims Who Do Not Want to Report an Incident A. A victim may choose not to report a sexual assault to the police at the time it occurs but later change their mind. 1. Even though a victim may not want to talk with law enforcement they may still request a SANE exam be done for their own health and to preserve evidence in case they change their mind about initiating a complaint. 2. In these cases a SANE will complete the exam and send the sexual assault evidence collection kit to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab. 3. The Wisconsin State Crime Lab will keep the sexual assault evidence collection kit in case the victim decides at a later time to initiate a sexual assault complaint. 4. Law enforcement will NOT be contacted. B. An officer may already be involved in a sexual assault case when a victim requests that no investigation be conducted, but still wants a SANE exam completed. 1. The officer will gather whatever information they can. The officer will NOT interview or follow up with the victim, unless requested to do so by the victim. 2. The officer will take custody of the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit and handle it as they would in any other sexual assault investigation. The victim may be identified on the paperwork that accompanies the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit. 234.07 Juvenile Victims Juvenile victims of sexual assault may require unique services because of their age and/or cognitive abilities. Officers will partner with other community resources in an effort to better support the juvenile victim in this area. A. Officer shall contact the Department of Human Services Access Unit at 920-236-4615 during business hours or Crisis Intervention at 920-233-7707 after hours if the victim of a sexual assault is under 18 years old. B. If the incident involving a juvenile victim is reported during normal business hours the officer will also contact the Child Advocacy Center at 920-969-7930 to see if a SANE is available to perform the examination at their facility. If the incident is reported outside of normal business hours the officer should follow our regular SART procedures. C. An interview may be conducted by a forensic interviewer if deemed appropriate. If an interview is appropriate but cannot take place immediately officers should obtain only basic information necessary to continue the investigation. The following factors should be considered when determining whether a forensic interview should be conducted. 1. Age of victim 2. Cognitive ability and maturity of victim 3. Severity of assault 234.08 Sexual Assault Suspect SANE Examinations Sexual assault collection kits may be obtained from a suspect or defendant in a sexual assault investigation by a SANE when; A. The suspect gives consent for the exam B. A search warrant has been obtained and if required by the hospital, a completed court order to obtain evidence related to the alleged crime. o The court order shall include; i. A detailed description of what the SANE needs to collect ii. The name of the hospital collecting the evidence, and iii. Authorization for any photos if needed. 234.09 Processing of Sexual Assault Evidence The Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory requires sexual assault evidence be processed using specific procedures. These procedures provide officers with guidance on how to handle this type of evidence. A. Photo rg aphs - The Oshkosh Police Department is responsible for taking photographic evidence related to sexual assault investigations. 1. Photographs should be taken as the officer's judgment indicates is appropriate while considering the victim's willingness to cooperate. 2. Officers should follow normal photography procedures found in Policy 167—Photographs, Video Recordings, and Audio Recordings. 3. During the SANE exam photos may be taken by medical personnel with specialized photograph equipment. Those photos will be turned over to the investigating officer or detective to be taken as evidence. B. Victim's Clothing- Clothing that is recovered from a victim or suspect by a SANE or other medical personnel will be given to officers in paper bags. 1. Each piece of clothing will be placed in a separate paper bag and sealed according to SANE protocols. 2. The contents of each bag will be identified in writing by the SANE or other medical personnel. 3. Any evidence items that are wet or damp must be dried before packaging. a. The drying chamber is located in the evidence lab, Room B118, and may be accessed by officers without supervisory assistance. The drying chamber facilitates a more timely drying process for evidentiary items than the traditional drying lockers. The lock and key for the chamber are located on the chamber and the specific procedures for using the chamber are located near it for officers to reference. b. Drying locker #300 is located in the auxiliary property submission room and may be accessed by a supervisor using the key located in the Shift Commander's office. This locker has been marked as drying locker and should not be used for other evidence. A temporary lock and key must be obtained from the shift commander to accordance with Policy 142 Property Handling. This drying locker should only be used if the drying chamber is unavailable for use. c. The officer shall follow procedures regarding the use of temporary lockers as defined in Policy 142 Property Handling. The items in the drying locker/drying chamber will likely be dry and ready for packaging 24 hours later. The original officer handling the evidence should typically finish processing the evidence. At that time the officer will seal the kit and submit it in one of the regular property lockers. If the officer who temporarily secured the items will not be available within 24 hours to repackage the evidence, a supervisor will make arrangements to have the evidence packaged. This will be documented in the incident report. Every effort should be made for the investigating officer to complete the packaging to limit the chain of custody for the evidence. 4. The officer will enter the items into the FileOnQ property management system and seal the bags appropriately. 5. The sealed property items will also be tagged by the officer using the FileOnQ printout as a label. 6. These items will then be secured in an approved storage area as evidence according to proper evidence handling procedures. C. Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit 1. Processing a. The evidence collection kit will contain eight (8) numbered envelopes. In most cases the officer should receive the kit already sealed by the SANE or other medical personnel. However the SANE or other medical personnel may decide to leave a kit unsealed to allow a sample to dry. b. In those cases where the kit is left unsealed the SANE will leave the envelope open inside the kit. The officer will place the kit and open envelopes in one of the drying lockers or in the drying chamber. c. If items from the evidence collection kit require drying officers shall refer to steps a, b and c from section 234.09 (B) (3) above. d. The medical personnel should provide the officer with a written inventory of the items collected so it can be documented in the report. The SANE or medical personnel should also advise the officer if any samples are more likely to contain DNA than others. The officer should ask for this information if it is not provided by the SANE or medical personnel. If the kit is not sealed the officer shall verify its contents prior to sealing it and document the contents in the report. e. The officer shall enter the evidence collection kit into the FileOnQ property management system and place it in an evidence locker. Some envelopes may not be used by the SANE or medical personnel if they determine the test related to that envelope is inappropriate to that situation. If the kit was sealed by medical staff the officer should mark the container with the complaint number and the officer's initials. f. The investigating officer shall get a copy from Emergency Room personnel of the "Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Checklist" and the "Sexual Assault Report". Both of these documents are to be submitted with the property. g. The investigating officer shall also request the victim sign an Authorization for Disclosure of Health Information release form. 2. Retention and Crime Lab Submission a. Once the department is notified by a healthcare professional that a sexual assault kit was collected, it must be picked up within 72 hours. b. All sexual assault collection kits in possession of the department shall be submitted to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab by a detective or evidence technician within 14 days after taking possession of the sexual assault collection kit. It shall be the responsibility of the Office Manager to confirm submission occurred within the allowed time period. i. If, after taking possession of the sexual assault kit, the department receives notification from the victim that the victim does not want to proceed with the analysis of the sexual assault kit, the department will send the sexual assault kit to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab for storage within 14 days after taking possession of the sexual assault kit. The Wisconsin State Crime Lab will store the kit for 10 years prior to destroying the kit. c. The department shall update the status of sexual assault kits into the Wisconsin Sexual Assault Kit Tracking System. i. A SANE Nurse will initiate the Track-Kit process and will apply a DOJ supplied barcode to the kit, will enter the kit details, and will provide the victim with the barcode and log-in information. ii. Department Track-Kit status updates shall be done by the Officer Manager or a Property Clerk when: (a) Once law enforcement is notified by a SANE nurse that a kit was collected, they have 72 hours to retrieve the kit. (b) Once a kit has been received by law enforcement, they then have 14 days to submit the kit to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab for processing/testing. (c) Once the Wisconsin State Crime Lab has finished processing the kit, it will be returned to the submitting law enforcement jurisdiction where it must be retained for 50 years. d. If the department takes possession of a sexual assault kit after it has been processed by the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, notwithstanding §968.025, it shall securely store the sexual assault kit for a period of 50 years, or until the date of the expiration of the statute of limitations, or until the end of the term of imprisonment or probation of a person who was convicted in the sexual assault case, whichever is longer.