Expert: Jack Toomey - 10/13/2006

Question
Hi,

I'm currently writing a play about the hour and a half following a sexual assualt.  I need to know a few things about police procedure after the initial call is made.  

To give the situation context, the character has already come home, and does not want to leave her apartment.  Her roommates convince her to make the call to 911 when she realizes that her attackers have her purse--which has both her keys and ID in it.

After the call to 911, how many officers are likely to show up?  Just one?  Would it be just a uniform officer, or would a detective show up, too?  

Also, would an ambulence be called to the scene, or would the officer just take her to the hospital?  If she didn't want to leave the apartment, would the officers have to (for want of a better word) force her to go?  What logically happens, there?

Thank you for your time.

Rob Matsushita

Answer
Rob,

   First of all let me tell you that there are no national standards for the response to any call so I can't tell you exactly how this call would be handled because it would vary from department to department.  In other words on a big city department it might be entirely different from a small town department in a rural area with only one or two officers working at any given time.

    I am assuming that you mean that the victim of the sexual assault (you didn't say what kind of assault so it could be anywhere from rape to unwanted touching) has been assaulted somewhere else and come home to her apartment.  I am going on this assumption.

 I think that only one officer would respond because the suspect is long gone and the crime happened somewhere else. The officer would make the determination that a crime has actually occurred and it was not some nut case calling the police.  He would then place a lookout for the suspect if the crime happened in his juristiction.  If it did not happen in his juristiction then he would make arrangements for either the victim to go to the other police department (and this happens all of the time especially in states that have boroughs and small counties) or have an officer from the other juristiction come to him.  

  If this is a rape case then he would call for a detective.  If it is something minor (and remember sexual assaults can range from rape to grabbing someone on the butt) then he wouldn't.  I don't see how an ambulance is going to fit in here unless she is badly injured but if she was how did she get back to her apartment?

  The officer would try to talk the victim into going to a hospital (if this is a rape case) where she would be examined by a doctor/nurse to seize evidence, examine, etc.   The police cannot force anyone to go to the hospital.  If she didn't want to go then it will only hurt the investigation of the case and she would be told that.

    Let me know if this is clear to you.  If not rate me and send me another message.