Tweet
Posted on old forum on March 22, 2003 at 15:11:04
I'm due to meet with a local politician and the deputy chief of police at some point in the coming weeks as I made a complaint on behalf of a friend of mine about the quality of the Police involvement in her rape case. (She is too frightened after the treatment she has already received from members of the force and the public).
We live in a small, self governed (we have our own laws and police force) Island of the UK. As such I'm hoping for advice about what standards of service the Police should offer, or perhaps somewhere I could get further info from.
The claim of my friend was that she was dealt with initially by a male officer, who was not specifically trained to deal with rape victims. After much protesting a female officer was presented, but she was new to the force and, although her efforts were great, clearly insufficiently trained.
My friend claims to have been made to feel like a criminal herself during 10hrs of interview. As we live in a fairly conservative community they were quick to utilise the fact that she was drunk and had been promiscuous in the past to discredit her. Also there was no violence in the case, just a lack of consent.
Much as I accept that it is still difficult to get a conviction in cases of this nature I do feel that it's not the job of the Police to pass such immediate judgement. They also significantly added to the psychological damage already done.
Anyway if anyone has any advice about what standards a person should be able to expect from the Police (i.e. specifically trained staff members, female officer for a female vic. etc.) I would really appreciate them. I fear that I'm going to be fobbed off in my meeting should I not be sufficiently prepared.
I'm due to meet with a local politician and the deputy chief of police at some point in the coming weeks as I made a complaint on behalf of a friend of mine about the quality of the Police involvement in her rape case. (She is too frightened after the treatment she has already received from members of the force and the public).
We live in a small, self governed (we have our own laws and police force) Island of the UK. As such I'm hoping for advice about what standards of service the Police should offer, or perhaps somewhere I could get further info from.
The claim of my friend was that she was dealt with initially by a male officer, who was not specifically trained to deal with rape victims. After much protesting a female officer was presented, but she was new to the force and, although her efforts were great, clearly insufficiently trained.
My friend claims to have been made to feel like a criminal herself during 10hrs of interview. As we live in a fairly conservative community they were quick to utilise the fact that she was drunk and had been promiscuous in the past to discredit her. Also there was no violence in the case, just a lack of consent.
Much as I accept that it is still difficult to get a conviction in cases of this nature I do feel that it's not the job of the Police to pass such immediate judgement. They also significantly added to the psychological damage already done.
Anyway if anyone has any advice about what standards a person should be able to expect from the Police (i.e. specifically trained staff members, female officer for a female vic. etc.) I would really appreciate them. I fear that I'm going to be fobbed off in my meeting should I not be sufficiently prepared.
Comment