Sexual Assault Crimes Training for Law Enforcement

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Sexual Assault Crimes Trainingfor Law Enforcement

• Module 3
• Characteristics and Behaviors of Offenders
  Interviewing Suspects

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ACTIVITY

• What Do You Already Know?

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What You Will Learn

• Characteristics of sex offenders
• Common offender behavior patterns
• Best practices for interviewing suspects

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• What is the Profile of a Typical Sex Offender?

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You Are Looking At Him
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What Do We Know About Offenders?

• Most go undetected
• Most are serial
• Serial offenders are often predatory they
  identify, manipulate and exploit vulnerabilities
• Most choose to assault someone they know

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How Many Offenses are Typical?

• Multiple offenses
• Offending behavior starts in adolescence and
  often spans several decades
• Have often victimized scores, or even hundreds of
  individuals

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How Do We Know This?

• For the detected rapist
• Researchers gave confidentiality to offenders in
  exchange for a truthful accounting of offending
  history
• In one study, the average number of victims was
  7 for another 11

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2002 Lisak Miller Study

• This Boston-area study assessed 1,882 men. 120
  men disclosed committing completed or attempted
  rape. Of those 120 men, 76 disclosed committing
  
• 49 sexual assaults
• 439 rapes attempted rapes
• 66 acts of physical abuse of children
• 277 acts of sexual abuse of children
• 214 acts of battery
• Total 1,045 crimes

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Myth Busters

• Offenders can be likeable men from all social and
  economic classes
• Offenders as a group dont have mental illnesses
• Offenders usually know their victims
• They may not think of their actions as rape
• They often groom their victims or use other
  means, such as alcohol, to coerce.

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The Undetected Rapist

• What are some of your preconceived notions about
  offenders?

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ACTIVITY

• What are myths about
• date rape?

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Who Do Offenders Target?

• Offenders often look for victims who are
• Vulnerable
• Able to be groomed, such as children
• Under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• New to a college campus
• People from oppressed or marginalized
  communities, such as people with disabilities or
  homeless people

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ACTIVITY
Activity

• Offender Fact Check

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Importance of Suspects Words

• Investigator may be one of first people to hear
  the suspect deny any sexual contact with victim
• If they make a statement of denial, be sure to
  capture their exact words
• The suspect may resort to a consent defense later

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Steps for Interviewing Suspects

• Establish rapport and be respectful
• Introduce the topic of concern
• Ask for narrative detail and LISTEN
• Get clarification of details when needed
• Ask specific, but non-leading, questions
• Close the interview

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Interviewer as Interested Listener

• Use open-ended questions
• Steer suspect to next point in the story
• Gently encourage further narrative details
• Use non-verbal encouragement (i.e., head nods,
  uh-huh, mmmm, pauses, silences)
• Resist the impulse to interrupt
• Use a non-threatening manner

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Tone

• Treat the suspect as valued and competent
  informant demonstrate that you respect them
• Create a sincere, supportive environment
• Suspect must believe that their experiences and
  perceptions will be heard and understood, not
  judged

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An Open Invitation to Talk

• The following prompts can invite the suspect to
  share information. Ask about
• The setting
• The initiating event
• Internal response of the suspect
• Plan of action of suspect
• Suspects attempt at action
• Consequences of that action
• Reactions of suspect

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What to Avoid

• Dont begin with an accusatory tone even if
  there is strong evidence
• Dont give too much information during the early
  stages of interview
• Dont use leading questions
• Dont interrupt - let them set the pace

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Supportive Prompting

• The victim says _______. Tell me what you know
  about this.
• Help me understand why the victim has said
  this.
• Tell me about the part where ________.
• What happened then?

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Meeting Suspects Needs Gets Results

• Try using open ended questions and dont
  interrupt their responses.
• Let them tell their side of the story
• Let them portray themselves in a positive light,
  which can lower their defenses
• Let them perceive their experiences and
  perceptions will be heard and understood
• Increasing the suspects confidence helps to
  engage them in the process

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Give the Suspect Time

• Allow them to answer one question at a time
  regardless of length of response
• Use simple language when asking questions
• Make sure any disclosure of self-incriminating
  information is voluntary and not coerced

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Ending the Interview

• Summarize and allow the suspect to ask questions
• Use respect and keep the door open to more
  conversations
• Inform the suspect of future processes
• If not charging them, thank them for their
  participation and invite them to contact you with
  any further information

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ACTIVITY

• One Sentence Summary

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ACTIVITY

• What Would You Tell a Colleague?

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Checklists to Review on Your Own

• What to SAY to a Victim During First Response
• What to SAY to a Victim During the Follow Up
  Interview
• What to GIVE a Victim
• Forensic Exams Victims and Suspects
• Reminders for Report Writing for Sexual Assault
  Crimes

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Special Thanks

• Special thanks to David Lisak for his work on
  offenders which informs this first half of this
  presentation. For more information, please
  contact David at
• David Lisak, Forensic Consultation and Training
• www.davidlisak.com
• david_at_davidlisak.com
• http//www.davidlisak.com
• Special thanks to Joanne Archambault, End
  Violence Against Women International (EVAWI).
  Foundational material in this module is based on
  concepts and information found in the Online
  Training Institute developed by EVAWI. For more
  information, please contact
• Joanne Archambault, Executive Director
• End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI)
• http//www.evawintl.org/onlinetraining.aspx

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Citation

• Read, J., Powell, M., Kebbell, M. and Milne,
  Becky (2009). Investigative interviewing of
  suspected sex offenders a review of what
  constitutes best practice. International Journal
  of Police Science Management, 11 (4).
  pp.442-459. ISSN 1461-3557 10.1350/ijps.2009.11.4.
  143
• This module was produced by Connecticut Sexual
  Assault Crisis Services, Inc. (CONNSACS) in
  collaboration with the Connecticut Police
  Officers Standards and Training Council
  (POSTC) and the Connecticut Police Chiefs
  Association (CPCA) through the support of
  subgrant No. 2009-WF-AX-0019 awarded by the state
  administrating office for the STOP Formula Grant
  Program.  The opinions, findings, conclusions,
  and recommendations expressed in this publication
  are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily
  reflect the views of the state or the U.S.
  Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against
  Women.