After an October laden with backlash toward law enforcement handling of sexual assault cases, changes are being made swiftly.
Athens law enforcement officials have said before they’re not adverse to change, but after significant backlash in October — that change is happening at a more rapid pace.
If the Athens Police Department is able to secure funding, it would conduct a two-day advanced sexual assault investigation class that roughly half the department would attend. Outside agencies would also be involved, including the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, the Ohio University Police Department and the Hocking College Police Department.
The program will only take place if APD is approved for the federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, valued at $20,000. APD Chief Tom Pyle said the department will be notified in December or January if its grant application was approved and training would begin in late May.
APD would be responsible for contributing $2,000 to the program, which would be hosted at the Athens Community Center on East State Street.
The program would include an advocacy component focusing on how to better investigate sexual assaults.
Pyle has also been attending an online training course through the Ohio Attorney General’s Office called “Bridging the Gap,” which informs law enforcement on working closer with advocacy groups and acting sensitively with survivors of sexual assault.
“The officer can be the biggest helpful factor in investigating a sexual assault and the most harmful just depending in how they handle their job,” Pyle said. “I’m not too certain that police officers are aware of that.”
Pyle said he is interested in working closer with the Ohio University Survivor Advocacy Program, and is also now meeting monthly with the organization F--kRapeCulture, following its rally in early October.
Among the organization’s demands was for OUPD and APD to improve survivor response training.
“Law enforcement and FRC are interested in the same thing: helping the survivor, but we have completely different responsibilities,” Pyle said. “When we’re not collaborating or working with each other, we lose momentum. When we dig a trench with each other and go down together, we have a lot more possibilities.”
Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn’s office also expanded its services to survivors of sexual assault after it established a sexual assault response team in October, following the arrest of a Michigan man, and former member of OU’s Marching 110, who was charged with rape and sexual battery for an assault that occurred during Homecoming Weekend last year. Dedrick Peterson, 31, had a pretrial hearing Wednesday and will stand trial starting Dec. 16.
“The team has different members from my staff who have responsibilities to gather information upon receiving a complaint from a law enforcement agency,” Blackburn said.
On Oct. 22, the prosecutor’s office released standards for its Sexual Assault Response Team during a meeting with OU, the Nelsonville Police Department, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office and the Glouster Police Department.
The standards include strict procedures regarding evidence collection, including: how photos of the scene are taken, how clothing of both the survivor and the suspect are collected and how sexual assault kit examinations are referred.
Investigators are also now asked to acquire a videotaped statement from the survivor and suspect, plus videos of the survivor and suspect from the time of the report and more.
In all, there are 21 standards listed on the handout.
The report also details that if a case is to be closed without prosecution, it should be communicated with the survivor face-to-face.
Athens County Interim Sheriff Rodney Smith said the Oct. 22 meeting assured sexual assault investigations will be handled the same way through each department for every case.
“I saw a problem with how things were being handled, I think it’s appropriate for the prosecutors to take action,” Blackburn said.
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