Law Enforcement Survey You are receiving this survey as a sworn member of [Police Department]. The purpose of this survey is not to assess individual knowledge or performance, but to evaluate and inform policy and procedure development efforts around sexual assault case response for the department. Your candid responses are both requested and appreciated. All responses are confidence and will help to inform the development of policy and educational resources. Only staff from ______ will have access to the responses. ***For all questions in this survey, please consider cases where the victim was OVER the age of 13 (not child sexual abuse). *** About You 1. How long have you been with the [Police Department]? a. Less than 3 years b. More than 3 years but less than 5 years c. More than 5 years but less than 7 years d. More than 7 years but less than 10 years e. More than 10 years 2. How long have worked in the field of law enforcement? a. Less than 3 years b. More than 3 years but less than 7 years c. More than 7 years but less than 10 years d. More than 15 years but less than 20 years e. More than 20 years 3. What is your current role within the department? a. Patrol b. Patrol Supervisor c. Sergeant d. Command e. Investigations f. Other (please specify) _______________ Your Experience 4. Aside from pre-service (skills) courses, how much specialized training have you received in handling sexual assault investigations? a. No training b. Very little training c. A moderate amount of training d. A large amount of training 5. In the training you have received, how much of it focused on documentation/report writing for sexual assault cases? a. N/A – I have not received training b. None c. Very little d. A moderate amount e. A large amount 6. How would you rate your comfort level in responding to sexual assault cases: a. Very uncomfortable b. Somewhat uncomfortable c. Somewhat comfortable d. Very comfortable e. I have never responded to a sexual assault case 7. How familiar are you with the department protocol for responding to sexual assault cases? a. Very familiar b. Somewhat familiar c. Somewhat unfamiliar d. Very unfamiliar 8. Consider your role, what sources do you generally turn to for evidence when gathering information about a sexual assault case? (check all that apply) a. Victim b. Suspect c. Witnesses d. Chain of disclosure witnesses e. Other (please specify) _____________ 9. Which of the following do you regularly include in your written report/documentation of a sexual assault? (check all that apply) a. The actual language of the victim b. The actual language of the suspect c. The actual language of other witnesses d. A description of all the evidence from the investigation e. None of the above f. Other (please specify) ___________ 10. Which statement best describes the way you think of sexual assault report writing and documentation? There may be more than one, but choose the single statement that is the best fit. a. It’s a necessary task that fulfills an administrative requirement b. It is a tedious task that I get done in time, but just barely c. It’s probably one of the most important parts of my investigation of a sexual assault case d. The most important part about it is that every part of the case is in there somewhere for the prosecutor to piece together e. The most important part is that something gets to the prosecutor’s office in a timely manner f. Report writing is less important than most tasks in a sexual assault investigation 11. In your opinion, what are the TWO most important considerations for law enforcement to know what responding to a sexual assault case? 12. People who report a sexual assault sometimes disengage from the process and stop working with law enforcement. What do you think are the main reasons this happens? 13. If given a choice between responding to a forced entry burglary that results in considerable property loss for a sexual assault, which case would you prefer to be dispatched? a. Forced entry burglary with considerable property loss b. Sexual assault 14. In your opinion, what is the most challenging part of responding to a sexual assault case? 15. If you were to speak candidly with a group of girls that just graduated from high school and were about to attend college away from home, what THREE pieces of advice would you offer to keep them from becoming sexual assault victims? 16. OF the reported sexual assault cases that YOU have worked with in your time as law enforcement, what portion of those cases do you feel were fabricated? a. 10% or less b. 11-25% c. 26-40% d. 41-60% e. 61-80% f. More than 80% g. I have never responded to a sexual assault case 17. What factors lead you to believe that a sexual assault report is not true? Department Response 18. Thinking about ALL sexual assault cases handled by your police department, what portion of those cases do you believe are fabricated? a. 10% or less b. 11-25% c. 26-40% d. 41-60% e. 61-80% f. More than 80% 19. Overall, how would you rate your police department’s handling of sexual assault cases? a. Excellent b. Good c. Fair d. Poor e. Uncertain Areas for Improvement 20. Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement: Training would improve our response to sexual assault cases. a. Strongly Disagree b. Disagree c. Agree d. Strongly Agree 21. What type of training would you like to see related to responding to sexual assault cases? 22. What else could be done to improve your police department’s handling of sexual assault cases? 23. Is there anything else that you’d like to add that was not addressed in this survey? Thank you for completing this survey. Your responses are valuable in informing the development of policy and resources related to sexual assault response. Are We Making a Difference? Sexual Assault Response Teams Assessing Systems Change: A Resource for Multidisciplinary Team Leadership (pp. 93-98) by Emily Goff, Sharon Haas, Laura Pejsa, and Jessica Jerney, 2015. Retrieved from http://resources.svji.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SVJI-evaluation-resource-for-Web-10.19.16.pdf Reprinted with permission